JOHN CLARK AM was educated at The Hutchins School, Hobart and the universities of Tasmania, Bristol and California. In 1960, one year after it began, he was invited to teach Theatre History at the National Institute of Dramatic art. He directed plays with the students and with the Old Tote Theatre Company and in 1969 was appointed the third Director of NIDA – a post he held until 2008. Clark established the Jane Street seasons of new work, co-founded the Sydney Theatre Company with Elizabeth Butcher in 1979, and established the NIDA Company in 1990. Outside NIDA he has directed plays in India, China, Singapore and Hobart. In 2006 he won a Helpmann Lifetime Achievement Award.