Neil Geoffrey Armfield (born 22 April 1955) is an Australian director of theatre, film and opera.

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 Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...

, adjacent to Exile Bay. He was educated at the

Homebush Boys High School ''(Latin for ''Upright and strong'') , established = 1936 , type = Public, secondary, single-sex, day school , free_label = Sister school , free_text = Strathfield Girls High School , principal = Kevin Elgood (2018) , address = ...

where, in 1972, he was the Vice-Captain. In that year, Armfield directed the school's production of Milne's "

Toad of Toad Hall ''Toad of Toad Hall'' is a play written by A. A. Milne – the first of several dramatisations of Kenneth Grahame's 1908 novel '' The Wind in the Willows'' – with incidental music by Harold Fraser-Simson. It was originally produced by Willi ...

" which garnered him the award of "Best Director" at the NSW High Schools Drama Festival. When asked in 2019: “Who or what was your biggest influence?” Armfield said; “Lindsay Daines at Homebush State High School, who encouraged my theatrical aspirations.” He then went on to study at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's ...

, graduating in 1977, and became Co-Artistic Director of the

Nimrod Theatre Company The Nimrod Theatre Company, commonly known as The Nimrod, was an Australian theatre company based in Sydney. It was founded by in 1970 by Australian actor John Bell, Richard Wherrett and Ken Horler, and gained a reputation for producing more "g ...

in 1979. He joined

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

's Lighthouse Theatre before returning to Sydney in 1985, where he was involved in the purchase of

Belvoir St Theatre Belvoir is an Australian theatre company based at the Belvoir St Theatre in Sydney, Australia, originally known as Company B. Since 2016 and its artistic director is Eamon Flack. The theatre contains a 330-seat Upstairs Theatre and a 80-seat ...

and the formation of Company B, becoming its first Artistic Director in 1994. In April 2008 he was selected as a participant in the ''Towards a creative Australia'' strand of the

Australia 2020 Summit The Australia 2020 Summit was a convention, referred to in Australian media as a summit, which was held over 18-19 April 2008 at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, aiming to "help shape a long-term strategy for the nation's future". Announ ...

. 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 Ralph Myers is an Australian theatre designer and director, and the former artistic director of Sydney's Belvoir. In 2005 and 2006 Myers was the resident designer at the Sydney Theatre Company; he was later an associate artist at Belvoir. His a ...

. Armfield was appointed joint artistic director of the

Adelaide Festival The Adelaide Festival of Arts, also known as the Adelaide Festival, an arts festival, takes place in the South Australian capital of Adelaide in March each year. Started in 1960, it is a major celebration of the arts and a significant cultural ...

with

Rachel Healy Rachel () was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban. Her older sister was Leah, Jacob's first wife. Her aun ...

in 2017, with their original two-year term extended twice to 2023. This made them the longest serving artistic directors in the Festival's history.

Company B work

For Company B, he has directed * ''Signal Driver'' * ''State of Shock'' * ''Aftershocks'' * ''Master Builder'' * '' The Diary of a Madman'' * ''

Diving for Pearls Diving for Pearls was an American melodic rock band founded in 1984 whose self-titled debut album was released in 1989. A follow-up album, ''Texas'', was issued in 2006 without much fanfare. The band takes its name from a line found in the 1983 ...

' * '' The Tempest'' * ''Ghosts'' * ''Hate'' * ''

No Sugar ''No Sugar'' is a postcolonial play written by Indigenous Australian playwright Jack Davis, set during the Great Depression, in Northam, Western Australia, Moore River Native Settlement and Perth. The play focuses on the Millimurras, an Austral ...

'' * ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' * '' The Blind Giant is Dancing'' * ''

The Alchemist An alchemist is a person who practices alchemy. Alchemist or Alchemyst may also refer to: Books and stories * ''The Alchemist'' (novel), the translated title of a 1988 allegorical novel by Paulo Coelho * ''The Alchemist'' (play), a play by Be ...

'' * ''WASP'' * ''

The Seagull ''The Seagull'' ( rus, Ча́йка, r=Cháyka, links=no) is a play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 and first produced in 1896. ''The Seagull'' is generally considered to be the first of his four major plays. It dramatises th ...

'' * ''The Governor's Family'' * '' As You Like It'' * '' The Judas Kiss'' * ''The Small Poppies'' * '' Suddenly Last Summer'' * '' The Marriage of Figaro'' * ''Emma's Nose'' * ''Aliwa'' * ''My Zinc Bed'' * '' Waiting for Godot'' * '' The Underpants'' * ''The Lieutenant of Inishmore'' * '' Gulpilil'' * ''The Spook'' * ''The Fever'' * ''

Cloudstreet ''Cloudstreet'' is a novel by Australian writer Tim Winton published in 1991. It chronicles the lives of two working-class families, the Pickles and the Lambs, who come to live together in a large house called Cloudstreet in Perth, Western Aust ...

'' * ''

Picasso at the Lapin Agile ''Picasso at the Lapin Agile'' is a full-length play written by American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and musician Steve Martin in 1993. Description The play features the characters of Albert Einstein and Pablo Picasso, who meet at a bar ...

'' * ''Dead Heart'' * ''

A Cheery Soul ''A Cheery Soul'' is a 1963 play by Australian writer Patrick White set in the fictional Sydney suburb of Sarsaparilla at the end of the 1950s. White described it as being about "the destructive power of good." Productions ''A Cheery Soul'' ...

'' * ''

Night on Bald Mountain ''Night on Bald Mountain'' (russian: Ночь на лысой горе, translit=Noch′ na lysoy gore, links=no), also known as ''Night on the Bare Mountain'', is a series of compositions by Modest Mussorgsky (1839–1881). Inspired by Russian ...

'' * '' Stuff Happens'' * '' The Adventures of Snugglepot &
Cuddlepie and Little Ragged Blossom'' * ''

Keating! ''Keating!'' is a sung-through musical which portrays the political career of former Australian Prime Minister of Australia, Prime Minister Paul Keating. Keating was Prime Minister between 1991 and 1996; the musical follows him from his ascen ...

'' * ''

Summer of the Seventeenth Doll ''Summer of the Seventeenth Doll'' is an Australian play written by Ray Lawler and first performed at the Union Theatre in Melbourne on 28 November 1955. The play is considered to be the most significant in Australian theatre history, and a " ...

Opera Australia work

For

Opera Australia Opera Australia is the principal opera company in Australia. Based in Sydney, its performance season at the Sydney Opera House accompanied by the Opera Australia Orchestra runs for approximately eight months of the year, with the remainder ...

he has directed works such as ''

Jenůfa ''Její pastorkyňa'' (''Her Stepdaughter''; commonly known as ''Jenůfa'' ) is an opera in three acts by Leoš Janáček to a Czech libretto by the composer, based on the play ''Její pastorkyňa'' by Gabriela Preissová. It was first performed ...

'', '' The Eighth Wonder'', ''

Tristan und Isolde ''Tristan und Isolde'' (''Tristan and Isolde''), WWV 90, is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the 12th-century romance Tristan and Iseult by Gottfried von Strassburg. It was comp ...

'' and '' Billy Budd''. In 2013, he directed Opera Australia's first full-length presentation of Richard Wagner's ''

Ring Cycle (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the ''Nibelun ...

'', in Melbourne.

Companies worked with

State Theatre Company of South Australia The State Theatre Company of South Australia (STCSA), branded State Theatre Company South Australia, formerly the South Australian Theatre Company (SATC), is South Australia's leading professional theatre company, and a statutory corporation. I ...

Queensland Theatre Company Queensland Theatre, formerly the Queensland Theatre Company and Royal Queensland Theatre Company, is a professional theatre company based in Brisbane, Australia. It regularly performs in its own Bille Browne Theatre and the Queensland Performi ...

* Sydney Theatre Company * Seymour Group *

Melbourne Theatre Company The Melbourne Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1953 as the Union Theatre Repertory Company at the Union Theatre at the University of Melbourne, it is the oldest professional theatre com ...

Welsh National Opera Welsh National Opera (WNO) ( cy, Opera Cenedlaethol Cymru) is an opera company based in Cardiff, Wales; it gave its first performances in 1946. It began as a mainly amateur body and transformed into an all-professional ensemble by 1973. In its ...

Canadian Opera Company The Canadian Opera Company (COC) is an opera company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest opera company in Canada and one of the largest producers of opera in North America. The COC performs in its own opera house, the Four Seasons Cent ...

* Zurich Opera *

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in English ...

The Royal Opera The Royal Opera is a British opera company based in central London, resident at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. Along with the English National Opera, it is one of the two principal opera companies in London. Founded in 1946 as the Cove ...

, Covent Garden *

Lyric Opera of Chicago Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1954, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicola Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria ...

* Houston Grand Opera

Film

*1986: ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vi ...

'' *1991: ''

The Castanet Club ''The Castanet Club'' is a 1991 Australian film starring the popular Newcastle cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hote ...

'' *2006: '' Candy'' *2015: '' Holding the Man''

Awards and honours

Australian

*Officer of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gov ...

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)"Officer of the Order of Australia Award"
on itsanhonour.gov.au Retrieved 18 September 2013 *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 The Green Room Awards are peer awards which recognise excellence in cabaret, dance, drama, fringe theatre, musical theatre and opera in Melbourne. The awards were started in 1982 when Blair Edgar and Steven Tandy formed the Green Room Awards A ...

* AFI Award for Best Director (Mini-series ''

Edens Lost ''Edens Lost'' is a 1989 Australian mini-series based on the novel of the same title by Sumner Locke Elliott, produced by Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and Central Independent Television. Gillian Armstrong and Margaret Fink had ...

'') *Several Helpmann Awards *Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Performing Arts in Australia

International

* Dublin Festival, Best Production (''

'') * Dora Mavor Moore Award, Canada, Best Director and Best Musical for '' Billy Budd'' *Barclays Best Opera Production Award (''Billy Budd'') * Jesse Kempf

References

External links

*
Talking Heads"> Talking Heads
– Armfield interview by Peter Thompson for ABC1 (July 2010) {{DEFAULTSORT:Armfield, Neil 1955 births Living people Australian film directors Australian theatre directors Dora Mavor Moore Award winners Helpmann Award winners Officers of the Order of Australia Australian opera directors LGBT theatre directors Australian LGBT people