John MacNeill
Acting
Biography
John Macneill trained at the (Royal) Central School of Speech & Drama on the three-year acting course. Upon graduation, and after an appearance at the Edinburgh Fringe, he joined Bedside Manners to play Bob Cratchet in A Christmas Carol, a small-scale musical tour of community venues in London. As an associate director of the company, John acted in, wrote and/or directed a further ten productions with the company, which ultimately toured to venues nationwide, including The West Yorkshire Playhouse, The Barbican Centre, and The Lyric Hammersmith. He appeared in Buddy and She Loves Me in the West End, as Tony in West Side Story at the National Theatre of Kenya, and has worked in various scales of theatre all over the UK. In 2002 he became Kneehigh's admin and marketing co-ordinator, then as co-director of Mundic Nation, he played Jack in Hell Fire Corner co-produced with Hall for Cornwall. John also played Pilia Borza in Barabas (Marlowe's Jew of Malta) and Helyar Jan in Never Say Rabbit in a Boat by Nick Darke at HfC. He played Rooster in Jerusalem touring outdoors for Common Players with Exeter Northcott. He played two shows back-to-back at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe: Polko, and award-winning The Interrogation. A South West tour of one-man play The Coastguard in which he played Peter, received a five-star review. Television work includes Black Books, The Bill, Doc Martin, His Dark Materials, Beyond Paradise, and The Diplomat, as well as numerous commercials, while John is probably best known as Jacka Hoblyn in Poldark Series 2, 4 and 5. At AMATA John has worked closely with 2nd and 3rd Year students on performance, and acting for camera since 2015. His final productions The House of Bernarda Alba (2016) and The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (2017) won Best Actor/Actress awards, with the cast of Ui also winning Best Ensemble Company at the AMATA festival.
Known For
Lyra is an orphan who lives in a parallel universe in which science, theology and magic are entwined. Her search for a kidnapped friend uncovers a sinister plot involving stolen children and turns into a quest to understand a mysterious phenomenon called Dust. She is later joined on her journey by Will, a boy who possesses a knife that can cut windows between worlds. As she learns the truth about her parents and her prophesied destiny, the two young people are caught up in a war against celestial powers that ranges across many worlds.
His Dark Materials
Britain is in the grip of a chilling recession... falling wages, rising prices, civil unrest - only the bankers are smiling. It's 1783 and Ross Poldark returns from the American War of Independence to his beloved Cornwall to find his world in ruins: his father dead, the family mine long since closed, his house wrecked and his sweetheart pledged to marry his cousin. But Ross finds that hope and love can be found when you are least expecting it in the wild but beautiful Cornish landscape.
Poldark
Amid an international crisis, a US diplomat contends with her high-profile job as ambassador to the UK and her strained marriage to a political star.
The Diplomat
Black Books centres around the foul tempered and wildly eccentric bookshop owner Bernard Black. Bernard’s devotion to the twin pleasures of drunkenness and wilful antagonism deepens and enriches both his life and that of Manny, his assistant. Bearded, sweet and good, Manny is everything that Bernard isn’t and is punished by Bernard relentlessly just for the crime of existing. They depend on each other for meaning as Fran, their oldest friend, depends on them for distraction. Black Books is a haven of books, wine and conversation, the only threat to the group’s peace and prosperity is their own limitless stupidity.
Black Books
After a whirlwind romance with a wealthy widower, a naïve bride moves to his family estate but can't escape the haunting shadow of his late wife.
Rebecca
Steve McTear, a gifted fencer, tries to distance himself from the violent criminal activities of his family. When he finds himself pursued by gangsters, he decides to take a job as a fencing coach at a remote and exclusive school.
The Last Musketeer
Riley Owen, a bodyguard, is tasked with protecting Lady Anjali Cassley from a ghost. Despite the fact that the job seems ridiculous, he decides to accept it.
The Ghost of Cassley
A beach café-owner with no customers has a change of luck when she gets to know a local forager who is looking for hag stones. Is it down to magic or friendship that the beach café begins to attract custom?
The Hag Stone
Forced to take shelter, a father and daughter break into a farmhouse concealing a twisted monster. Set in the 1970s, Infracktion follows two drifters – Laura and her father, John. Trekking across the moorland late into the night, the two seek shelter in a seemingly abandoned farm house. In the gloom of the house, a twisted horror stirs.
Infracktion
Blowing out of the city like a whirlwind in the night, Alice and John flee to the sea riding a blissful wave of new love.
Wilderness
In 1890s Cornwall, 15-year-old Mae discovers freedom through a lonely scarecrow. When her uncle begins to get suspicious, she is forced to decide between fantasy and reality.
The Crow's Call
A young woman losing her grip on reality returns home with a plan to face her past by building a boat.