A & R
The Academy
The Accrington Pals
Joss Ackland
Across Oka
David Adjmi
The Adventures of Awful Knawful
Afore Night Come
After Easter
After Haggerty
Jenny Agutter
Edward Albee
Albery Theatre
The Alchemist
Aldwych Theatre
Bill Alexander
Bruce Alexander
Geraldine Alexander
Alice in Wonderland
All Over
All's Well That Ends Well
Roger Allam
Sheila Allen
Almeida Theatre
The American Pilot
Amphibians
Miles Anderson
Anna Christie
Francesca Annis
Jean Anouilh
Nonso Anozie
Antony and Cleopatra
Alexei Arbuzov
The Archbishop's Ceiling
John Arden
Arden of Faversham
Tony Armatrading
Alun Armstrong
Craig Armstrong
Artists and Admirers
The Art of Seduction
The Art of Success
Arts Theatre
Peggy Ashcroft
As You Like It
Eileen Atkins
Michael Attenborough
Hayley Atwell
The versatile and distinctive Alun Armstrong worked as a gravedigger before securing his first acting job, at the Cambridge Arts Theatre, aged twenty-three. Soon afterwards he won an important supporting role in the Michael Caine thriller Get Carter (1971).
At the RSC from 1979 to 1988 his work included dazzlingly Dickensian performances as Squeers in Nicholas Nickleby (Trevor Nunn/John Caird, Aldwych, 1981, New York, 1981), Thersites in Troilus and Cressida (Howard Davies, RST, 1985, Barbican, 1986), Thénadier—bringing the house down—in Les Misérables (Nunn/Caird, Barbican, 1985), and Barabas—a tour de force of virtuosic 'turns', including a banjo-playing Frenchman in a straw boater—in The Jew of Malta (Barry Kyle, Swan, 1987, Barbican, 1988). He was a biting Petruchio to Sinéad Cusack's Kate in The Taming of the Shrew (Kyle, RST, 1982, Barbican, 1983). Also: Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing (Howard Davies) and Azdak in The Caucasian Chalk Circle (John Caird, Small-scale Tour, 1979, Warehouse, 1980); Alun in Barrie Keeffe's Bastard Angel (Bill Alexander, Warehouse, 1980); Leathers/Frontage/Baker in Howard Barker's The Loud Boy's Life (Davies, Warehouse, 1980); Trinculo in The Tempest (Ron Daniels, RST, 1982, not London 1983); Ralph Trapdoor in The Roaring Girl (Kyle, Barbican, 1983); Leontes in The Winter's Tale (Adrian Noble) and John Proctor in The Crucible (Kyle/Nick Hamm, Small-scale Tour, 1984); and Stuart Clarke in Doug Lucie's Fashion (Hamm, TOP, 1987, Pit, 1988).
In the years before he joined the RSC he worked in repertory at Sheffield, Edinburgh and Newcastle. At the Royal Court he was in David Storey's The Changing Room (Lindsay Anderson, 1971), as Billy; Brenton and Edgar's A Fart for Europe (Chris Parr, Theatre Upstairs, 1973); Storey's Cromwell (Anthony Page, 1973), as Morgan; and Storey's Mother's Day (Robert Kidd, 1976). At the Old Vic he played Hurst in Sergeant Musgrave's Dance. He was in Bill Bryden's The Passion at the National (Cottesloe, 1977).
Since leaving the RSC he has appeared in 20th century classics, new plays and the occasional musical: Adolf in Strindberg's The Father (David Leveaux, NT Cottesloe, 1988); Aimable in The Baker's Wife (Trevor Nunn, Phoenix, 1989); the title role—Dickensian once more—in Sweeney Todd (Declan Donnellan, NT Cottesloe, 1993); Einstein in Terry Johnson's Insignificance (Donmar Warehouse, 1995); Hamm in Endgame (Katie Mitchell, Donmar Warehouse, 1996); Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman (David Thacker, NT Lyttelton, 1996); the scheming editor—giving Walter Matthau a run for his money and blowing Griff Rhys Jones off the stage—in The Front Page (Sam Mendes, Donmar Warehouse, 1998); replacing Ian Holm in Shelagh Stephenson's Mappa Mundi (Bill Alexander, NT Cottesloe, 2002); Pizarro in Peter Shaffer's The Royal Hunt of the Sun (Nunn, NT Olivier, 2006).
Armstrong has appeared regularly in character roles on the big screen: The Wild Little Bunch (1973); The Likely Lads (1976); A Bridge Too Far (Richard Attenborough, 1977); The Duellists (Ridley Scott, 1977); The French Lieutenant's Woman (Karel Reisz, 1981); Krull (1983); Billy the Kid and the Green Baize Vampire (1985); Michael Palin's Number 27 (Tristram Powell, 1988); That Summer of White Roses (1989); White Hunter, Black Heart (Clint Eastwood, 1990); London Kills Me (Hanif Kureishi, 1991); Palin's American Friends (Tristram Powell, 1991); Blue Ice (1992); Patriot Games (Philip Noyce, 1992); Split Second (1992); Black Beauty (1994); An Awfully Big Adventure (Mike Newell, 1995); Braveheart (Mel Gibson, 1995); The Saint (Philip Noyce, 1997); Onegin (Martha Fiennes, 1999); Proof of Life (Taylor Hackford, 2000); The Mummy Returns (2001); It's All About Love (2003); Van Helsing (2004); Millions (Danny Boyle, 2004); Oliver Twist (Roman Polanski, 2005); Eragon (2006).
Television: Only Make Believe (1973); A House Full of Men (1977); A Sharp Intake of Breath (1978); Measure for Measure (BBC, 1979); Get Lost! (1981); The Widowmaker (1990); Stanley and the Women (1991); The Life and Times of Henry Pratt (1992); Doggin' Around (1994); MacGyver: Trail to Doomsday (1994); Thénadier in Les Misérables in Concert (1995); Our Friends in the North (BBC, 1996); Witness Against Hitler (1996); Breaking the Code (Herbert Wise, BBC, 1996); Brazen Hussies (Elijah Moshinsky, 1996); Sorry About Last Night (Metin Huseyin, BBC, 1997); Underworld (1997); In the Red (BBC, 1998); Aristocrats (BBC, 1999); Adrian Mole: the Cappuccino Years (BBC, 2001); Sparkhouse (BBC, 2002); Bedtime (BBC, 2002); Messiah 2 (BBC, 2003); New Tricks (BBC, 2003-06); Between the Sheets (ITV, 2003); Carrie's War (BBC, 2003); Bucket in Bleak House (BBC, 2005).
Education: National Youth Theatre
RSC: Joined 1979; Associate Artist (since 1988).
Seasons: 1979 (Small-scale Tour); 1980 (Lond.); 1981 (Lond.); 1982 (Strat.)-83 (Lond.); 1984 (Small-scale Tour); 1985 (Strat.)-85/86 (Lond.); 1987 (Strat.)-88 (Lond.)
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