Bio
Niall McNeil has been involved with theatre from an early age through his lifelong association with the Caravan Farm Theatre. As a youngster he performed in As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet, Bull by the Horns and Strange Medicine.
Niall was an ensemble member of Vancouver’s Leaky Heaven Theatre’s shows since its inception in 1999 under the direction of the company’s founder, Steven Hill. Niall acted in Leaky Heaven Circus -Part One, Typhoon, Conference of the Birds, Birthday Boy, King Llyr, Zigguart, Bonobo and finished with Salome in 2006.
In 2010 Niall performed in A Christmas Carol as a member of the English Acting Company of the National Arts Centre in Ottawa under the direction of Peter Hinton.
Niall and Marcus Youssef have written two plays together, Peter Panties (2011) ( Leaky Heaven/Neworld Theatre) and King Arthur’s Night (2017)(Neworld Theatre). Veda Hille composed the music for both plays.
Niall’s acted in Marie Clements short film ‘Pilgrims’ in 2012.
Niall loves researching new ideas, writing lyrics and writing plays and has recently completed his first documentary film in 2020 called ‘The Originals’. Commissioned by Estelle Shook Artistic Director of the Caravan Farm Theatre, the documentary is a film about the founders of the Caravan Stage Company and Caravan Farm Theatre. It is Niall’s exploration of his roots as an artist.
Niall and his collaborators Anton Lipovetsky and Lucy McNulty were awarded a 2020-21 Dan Fund Commission by Musical Stage Company in Toronto to work on the first draft of their new musical play ‘Cowboy Tempest Cabaret’.
In 2020 Niall as writer/lyricist and Anton Lipovetsky composer participated in Theatre Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning’s production First Drafts, where they created an original musical “Joseph Jacket Multimask”. This production involved fourth year students in both musical theatre performance and technical production.
