Jess Noel
“another Humble Materials hit”
—Mark Zimmaro, PA Times Media
“All Quiet on the Western Front by Jessica Noel understands that its power lies in presence, not proclamation. By asking the audience to sit with repetition, loss, and fractured identity, the play becomes an act of witnessing rather than instruction. A demanding and deeply theatrical piece.”
—Neil Radtke, New Play Exchange
“Touching retelling of Remarque’s novel that adds the perspectives of the women in the lives of Paul, Kropp, Muller, Katczinsky, and Ginger, adding further nuance to the story’s central theme. It’s not only the young men fighting who are devastatingly impacted by war. The staging complements said theme by having the stage double as the trenches of the front but also the domestic space of the home front.”
—Ashley Baumgartner, New Play Exchange
“The evening proved to be a welcome container for some of my own questions, and an introduction to [Jess Noel’s] signature blend of choreography, education, and care.”
—AZ Espinoza on CASS, Philly Postcards, 2025
Photo by Andrea C. Mecchi from Jess Noel’s CASS, 2025.
Photo by Mark Zimmaro from Jess Noel's CALL OF THE WILD, 2026
image by Kat Caro from Jess Noel's SCARLET LETTER, 2022
image by Toby McDonald of Jess Noel's direction/choreography for Dance of Beloved from MADE OF PAPER film premiere, 2024
image by Andrea C. Mecchi from Jess Noel's ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, 2024.
image by Kat Caro from OF A FEATHER, directed by Jess Noel, 2021.
Paprika Plains co-created by Natalie Fletcher and Jessica Noel, 2018
image by Jeff Bergeland from MEDEA, co-created by Monica Flory and Jess Noel, 2022
I’m a Philly-based theatre artist fascinated with shapes, shadows and large white boxes. I love experimenting and excavating, and I consistently trust the generative process.
As a choreographer, I’m inspired by detailed specificity of bodies, actor’s intuitive physicality, and ensemble storytelling. I enjoy collaborating with performers on movement choices, and I love chiseling dynamics out of dance.
As a director, I search for authentic pathways to distilled messaging and strikingly delicious visuals. I celebrate collaboration within community-minded spaces, and I’m so thankful for the brave, inspiring artists I’ve had the pleasure to work with thus far.
As a writer, I stare at what’s safe and easy, but ultimately decide to run in the other direction.
As a teacher, I offer experimental opportunities for students to push past discomfort and into discovery.
I make abstract, immediate theatre for alternative, imaginative artists and audiences. Thanks for stopping by!