Neil Armfield

Neil Armfield AO
Born	Neil Geoffrey Armfield (1955-04-22) 22 April 1955 (age 61) Sydney, New South Wales
Nationality	Australian
Alma mater	University of Sydney
Occupation	Creative director
Organization	Nimrod Theatre Company State Theatre Company (SA) Queensland Theatre Company Sydney Theatre Company Seymour Group Melbourne Theatre Company Opera Australia Welsh National Opera Canadian Opera Company Zurich Opera English National Opera The Royal Opera, Covent Garden Lyric Opera of Chicago Houston Grand Opera

Neil Geoffrey Armfield AO (born 22 April 1955) is an Australian director of theatre, film and opera. His homosexuality has informed much of his work.

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.

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 has subsequently directed under the new Artistic Director Ralph Myers.

For Company B, he has directed

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.

...
Wikipedia