John Clark AM b.1932

In 1984 work started on a new home for NIDA, a superb, purpose built complex in Anzac Parade,
on the western campus of the University of New South Wales. The occasion was marked by a visit from Prime Minister Bob Hawke. After the students greeted him with an energetic chorus of ‘Advance Australia Fair’, he announced that they had just sung the country’s new national anthem. In 1988 Hawke was back to officially open the building. In his speech he adroitly alluded to the school’s earlier home in dowdy, recycled buildings at the old Kensington racecourse: ‘NIDA is no longer a gamble: it is an institution with a proven track record. It deserves, and is getting, its own stable.’

By the year 2000 NIDA was offering seven different courses. In 2001 Prime Minister John Howard opened the latest addition to the NIDA complex, the superb new 730-seat Parade Theatre. It was launched by Mel Gibson, who had contributed $US1 million to the building fund.

Gibson is NIDA’s most prominent ‘old boy’, but there are so many others – over 1500 of them – who owe their theatrical careers to their days at NIDA. Many packed the Parade Theatre to pay homage to Clark when he retired in 2004. Under his 35-year directorship, NIDA became Australia’s largest and most comprehensive centre of excellence for theatre, film and television, supplying the arts and entertainment industry with talented actors, designers, directors, stage managers, playwrights, administrators, technicians, craftspeople and movement and voice specialists, many of whom are leaders in their various fields, nationally and abroad.

One of John Clark’s last official projects was the compilation of a book telling NIDA’s story and celebrating its achievements. It is a remarkable and colourful chronicle and, typical of Clark, he let his students and his staff take centre stage. It was published in 2003.

John Clark served as president of the Producers and Directors’ Guild of Australia in 1983-84. He was on the Northside Theatre Company board from 1983 until 1989 and a member of the management committee of the Northern Territory Theatre Company during 1986-87. From 1976 to 1980 he chaired the NSW Government Advisory Council on Cultural Activities. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1981. And John Clark served as president of the Producers and Directors’ Guild of Australia in 1983-84., in recognition of his outstanding contribution to excellence in Australian live theatre.

Frank Van Straten, 2007