As a director Stanford began his career in Ireland at the Project Arts Centre where his productions included works by Shaw, Graham Greene, Brecht, Dürrenmatt and Shakespeare.
He is former Artistic Director of Second Age Theatre Company for whom he has directed many productions, including King Lear, Othello, "Hamlet","Macbeth" and Philadelphia Here I Come.
At the Gate he has directed Romeo and Juliet, Tartuffe, Present Laughter twice, Pride and Prejudice, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Great Expectations twice, A Tale of Two Cities, The Collection, Lady Windermere's Fan, Cyrano de Bergerac, An Ideal Husband,[2] A Christmas Carol, Arms and the Man, Oliver Twist, Blithe Spirit, Jane Eyre, The Constant Wife, Private Lives, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Deep Blue Sea, The Old Curiosity Shop, The Real Thing, Endgame, God of Carnage, and Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris.
In the USA he appeared as King Henry in The Lion in Winter Stanford's work as a director and adaptor for the stage includes adaptations of Pride and Prejudice, A Christmas Carol, Romeo and Juliet, The Constant Wife, all presented at the Gate Theatre.
[9] In 2022 he was removed by the board of PICT after the Pittsburgh City Paper published allegations of sexual harassment of actresses,[9][10] which Stanford described as "libellous".
[11] Stanford's film and television work includes Educating Rita, The Irish R.M., The Treaty, The Hanging Gale, Moll Flanders, Michael Collins, Kidnapped, Animal Farm etc.