John Stead has also worked extensively in the theatre as a director and a fight director. He is a master instructor with the Academy of Dramatic Combat and a senior member of The Society of Canadian Fight Directors. He has well over 400 professional production credits as a fight director, including 19 seasons as the fight director for the Stratford Shakespeare Festival of Canada. He has worked across Canada and the U.S. with numerous companies including the Shaw Festival for 13 seasons, Soulpepper Theatre, CanStage, the National Ballet, the Elgin Theatre/Mirvish Productions, Ontario Opera Company, Manitoba Theatre Centre, the National Arts Centre, the Studio Arena Theatre, the Geva Theatre in Rochester, the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington D.C., Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles and the Lincoln Centre on Broadway .