Jo Beddoe

It’s with huge sadness that we have heard that Jo Beddoe has passed away. Jo was the first Executive Director of the trust formed to bring together the running of the Everyman and Playhouse.

A pioneer for women in theatre management, she led the Playhouse during its successful ‘Gang of Four Days’ with Alan Bleasdale, Chris Bond, Bill Morrison and Willy Russell and was responsible for Blood Brothers being seen in the West End for the first time.

She returned to Liverpool in 1999 to re-open the Playhouse, to be managed together under a single management team with the Everyman as Liverpool and Merseyside Theatres Trust. During her tenure she was responsible for the premiere of Kenneth Branagh's hugely successful The Play What I Wrote, for launching the young playwrights programme and establishing the foundations upon which the theatres thrive today.

Deborah Aydon, current Executive Director of LMTT spoke fondly of her impact: “Jo was an absolute force of nature and was deeply loved in the industry for her huge heart, wicked spirit and her support for artists over many decades at the Royal Court, New York Theatre Workshop, the Playhouse in the Gang of Four days and latterly at LMTT.”