Neil Austin is an English lighting designer. He has been nominated for nine and won two Olivier Awards, and won three Tony Awards from six nominations for his work on plays and musicals in London and New York. Neil is the lighting designer for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child for which he has received global acclaim, including the Olivier, Tony, Drama Desk, Helpmann, Outer Critics Circle, Dora Mavor, and WhatsOnStage Awards for best lighting design.

Neil studied Technical Theatre at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and was made a Fellow in 2008.[1] Variety named him a Pacesetter on the London Arts Scene in 2007,[2] and an Artisan Elite in 2019.[3]

Awards

|- | rowspan=2 | 2026 | Paddington: The Musical | WhatsOnStage Award for Best Lighting Design[4] | | |- | Born with Teeth | WhatsOnStage Award for Best Lighting Design[5] | | |- | rowspan=3 | 2023 | rowspan=2 | Leopoldstadt | Tony Award for Best Lighting Design in a Play[6] | | |- | Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Lighting Design[7] | | |- | rowspan=1 | Tammy Faye | WhatsOnStage Award for Best Lighting Design[8] | | |- | rowspan=5 | 2022 | Harry Potter and the Cursed Child | Dora Mavor Moore Awards for Outstanding Lighting Design[9] | | |- | The 47th | BroadwayWorld Award for Best Lighting Design | | |- | Company | Tony Award for Best Lighting Design in a Musical[10] | | |- | rowspan=2 | Frozen | Laurence Olivier Award for Best Lighting Design[11] | | |- | WhatsOnStage Award for Best Lighting Design[12] | | |- | 2020 | Rosmersholm | Laurence Olivier Award for Best Lighting Design[13] | | |- | rowspan=7 | 2019 | rowspan=2 | Ink | Tony Award for Best Lighting Design in a Play[14] | | |- | Knight of Illumination Award (USA) for Best Lighting Design (Play - Large Venue) | | |- | rowspan=3 | Company | Laurence Olivier Award for Best Lighting Design[15] | | |- | WhatsOnStage Award for Best Lighting Design | | |- | Knight of Illumination Award for Best Lighting Design (Musical Theatre) | | |- | Harry Potter and the Cursed Child | Helpmann Award for Best Lighting Design | | |- | Rosmersholm | BroadwayWorld Award for Best Lighting Design | | |- | rowspan=4 | 2018 | rowspan=3 | Harry Potter and the Cursed Child | Tony Award for Best Lighting Design in a Play | | |- | Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design for a Play | | |- | Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Lighting Design | | |- | Translations | BroadwayWorld Award for Best Lighting Design | | |- | rowspan=2 | 2017 | rowspan=2 | Harry Potter and the Cursed Child | Laurence Olivier Award for Best Lighting Design | | |- | WhatsOnStage Award for Best Lighting Design | | |- | rowspan=2 | 2016 | The Winter's Tale | Laurence Olivier Award for Best Lighting Design | | |- | Hughie | Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design for a Play | | |- | rowspan=2 | 2015 | Assassins | Knight of Illumination Award for Best Lighting Design (Musical Theatre) | | |- | The Winter's Tale | Falstaff Award for Best Lighting Design | | |- | rowspan=2 | 2013 | rowspan=2 | Macbeth | Manchester Theatre Award for Best Design | | |- | Falstaff Award for Best Lighting Design | | |- | rowspan=4 | 2012 | rowspan=2 | Evita | Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design for a Musical | | |- | Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Lighting Design | | |- | Company | Knight of Illumination Award for Best Lighting Design (Musical Theatre) | | |- | Betty Blue Eyes | WhatsOnStage Award for Best Lighting Design | | |- | rowspan=4 | 2011 | The White Guard | Laurence Olivier Award for Best Lighting Design | | |- | Passion | Knight of Illumination Award for Best Lighting Design (Musical Theatre) | | |- | The Prince of Homburg | WhatsOnStage Award for Best Lighting Design | | |- | Women Beware Women | WhatsOnStage Award for Best Lighting Design | | |- | rowspan=11 | 2010 | rowspan=3 | Red | Tony Award for Best Lighting Design in a Play | | |- | Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design for a Play | | |- | LDI Award for Excellence in Lighting Design | | |- | rowspan=3 | Hamlet | Tony Award for Best Lighting Design in a Play | | |- | Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lighting Design for a Play | | |- | LDI Award for Excellence in Lighting Design | | |- | Judgement Day | Knight of Illumination Award for Best Lighting Design (Play) | | |- | Madame de Sade | WhatsOnStage Award for Best Lighting Design | | |- | Life is a Dream | WhatsOnStage Award for Best Lighting Design | | |- | rowspan=2 | Parade | LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards | | |- | Backstage Garland Award for Lighting Design | | |- | rowspan=8 | 2009 | rowspan=3 | Piaf | Laurence Olivier Award for Best Lighting Design | | |- | WhatsOnStage Award for Best Lighting Design | | |- | Knight of Illumination Award for Best Lighting Design (Musical Theatre) | | |- | rowspan=2 | No Man's Land | Laurence Olivier Award for Best Lighting Design | | |- | Irish Times Theatre Award for Best Lighting Designer | | |- | Oedipus | WhatsOnStage Award for Best Lighting Design | | |- | Life is a Dream | WhatsOnStage Award for Best Lighting Design | | |- | Twelfth Night | Knight of Illumination Award for Best Lighting Design (Play) | | |- | 2008 | Parade | Knight of Illumination Award for Best Lighting Design (Musical Theatre) | | |- | rowspan=2 | 2007 | Therese Raquin | Laurence Olivier Award for Best Lighting Design | | |- | Frost/Nixon | Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Lighting Design | | |- |}

References

  1. ^ "Neil Austin". Guildhall Alumni. Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Archived from the original on 17 April 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  2. ^ "Pacesetters on the London Arts Scene". Variety. 2007-10-13. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  3. ^ "Artisans Elite: Meet the Minds Behind the Best Looks on Screens and Stages". Variety. 2019-08-21. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  4. ^ "The 26th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards: full list of nominees". WhatsOnStage. 11 December 2025. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
  5. ^ "The 26th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards: full list of nominees". WhatsOnStage. 11 December 2025. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
  6. ^ "2023 Tony Awards Nominees". Tony Awards. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  7. ^ Rocsy, Nicole. "New York, New York; Some Like It Hot; & More Lead Nominations for Outer Critics Circle Awards". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
  8. ^ "Nominees for 23rd Annual WhatsOnStage Awards announced". WhatsOnStage. 8 December 2022. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  9. ^ "2022 Dora Mavor Moore Award Winners". Intermission Magazine. 20 September 2022. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  10. ^ Sherman, Rachel (9 May 2022). "Full List of the 2022 Tony Award Nominees". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
  11. ^ "Nominations announced for Olivier Awards 2022 with Mastercard". Society of London Theatre. SOLT. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  12. ^ "Nominees for 22nd Annual WhatsOnStage Awards announced". WhatsOnStage. 9 December 2021. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  13. ^ "Nominations announced for Olivier Awards 2020 with Mastercard". Society of London Theatre. SOLT. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  14. ^ "Tony Award Winners". Tony Awards. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
  15. ^ "Nominations Announced for Olivier Awards 2019 With Mastercard". Society of London Theatre. SOLT. Retrieved 12 April 2022.