Background
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.
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 educated at the Homebush Boys High School and the University of Sydney, graduating in 1977, and became Company-Artistic Director of the Nimrod Theatre Company in 1979.
His homosexuality has informed much of his work. He was brought up in the suburb of Concord adjacent to Exile Bay. He joined South Australia"s Lighthouse Theatre before returning to Sydney in 1985, where he was involved in the purchase of Belvoir Street 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. Foreign Company B, he has directed Foreign 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. Australian Several Green Room Several Helpmann International.