Neil Armfield

Neil Armfield
AO
Born Neil Geoffrey Armfield
(1955-04-22) 22 April 1955
Sydney, New South Wales
Nationality Australian
Alma mater University of Sydney
Occupation Creative director
Organization

Neil Geoffrey Armfield AO (born 22 April 1955) is a renowned Australian director of theatre, film and opera.[1]

Biography

Born in Sydney, Armfield is the third and youngest son of Len, a factory worker at the nearby Arnott's Biscuits factory, and Nita Armfield. He was brought up in the suburb of Concord adjacent to Exile Bay. He was educated at the Homebush Boys High School and the University of Sydney, graduating in 1977, and became Co-Artistic Director of the Nimrod Theatre Company in 1979. He joined South Australia's Lighthouse Theatre before returning to Sydney in 1985, where he was involved in the purchase of Belvoir St Theatre and the formation of Company B, becoming its first Artistic Director in 1994.[2][3]

In April 2008 he was selected as a participant in the Towards a creative Australia strand of the Australia 2020 Summit. Armfield announced in 2009 that the 2010 season would be his last as Belvoir Artistic Director, but he subsequently directed under his successor as Artistic Director Ralph Myers.[4]

Company B work

For Company B, he has directed

Opera Australia work

For Opera Australia he has directed works such as Jenůfa, The Eighth Wonder, Tristan und Isolde and Billy Budd. In 2013 he directed Opera Australia's first full-length presentation of Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle, in Melbourne.

Companies worked with

Film

Awards and honours

Australian

  • Officer of the Order of Australia for "... service to the arts, nationally and internationally, as a director of theatre, opera and film, and as a promoter of innovative Australian productions including Australian Indigenous drama." (January 2007)[5]
  • Honorary Doctor of Literature at the University of Sydney (April 2006)
  • Sydney Theatre Critics Circle Award for Best Director and Best Production
  • 1989, Major Award for Significant Contribution to Sydney Theatre
  • Several Green Room Awards
  • AFI Award for Best Director (Mini-series Edens Lost)
  • Several Helpmann Awards
  • Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Performing Arts in Australia

International

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Jana Wendt, "The Diary of a Maestro: Meeting Neil Armfield", The Monthly (Australia), September 2010. Retrieved 18 September 2013
  2. ↑ Mitter, Shomit; Shevtsova, Maria (2005). Fifty Key Theatre Directors. Routledge. p. 236. ISBN 0-415-18731-1.
  3. ↑ Atkinson, Ann; Knight, Linsay; McPhee. Margaret (1996). The Dictionary of Performing Arts in Australia Volume 2: Opera, Music, Dance. Australia: Allen & Unwin. p. 11. ISBN 1-86373-898-3.
  4. ↑ Steve Dow, "Au revoir, Belvoir", 6 December 2009. Armfield's family background on stevedow.com.au
  5. ↑ "Officer of the Order of Australia Award" on itsanhonour.gov.au Retrieved 18 September 2013

Sources

  • Atkinson, Ann; Linsay Knight and Margaret McPhee (1996), The Dictionary of Performing Arts in Australia Volume 2: Opera, Music, Dance, Australia: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86373-898-3
  • Mitter, Shomit; Maria Shevtsova (2005), Fifty Key Theatre Directors. Routledge ISBN 0-415-18731-1
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