Throughout 2014–15 Adena was Resident Director at Belvoir in Sydney, and in 2012 she was Female Director in Residence at Malthouse Theatre. She is the Artistic Director of Melbourne-based independent company Fraught Outfit.

Directing credits include: The Howling Girls, Exile (Sydney Chamber Opera/Carriageworks); Book of Exodus – Parts I and II (Theatre Works); The Bacchae (Melbourne International Art Festival, Dark MOFO); Antigone (Malthouse Theatre); Wizard of Oz, Oedipus Rex, Hedda Gabler (Belvoir); Persona (Theatre Works, Malthouse Theatre, Belvoir); On the Bodily Education of Young Girls (Melbourne Theatre Company). She is currently collaborating with Indonesian filmmaker Kamila Andini on a theatrical adaptation of her acclaimed film The Seen and the Unseen. Adena Jacobs is a graduate of VCA and Melbourne University. Her work has been nominated for numerous awards, including Green Room, Sydney Theatre Awards and Helpmann Awards. In 2012, Persona received 5 Green Room Awards, including Best Production and Best Direction. This is her UK operatic debut.