Neil Fraser

Neil Fraser has worked extensively as a freelance lighting designer in the UK and abroad. He joined the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) as Head of Lighting in 1985, and in 2002 was appointed Director of Technical Training, staying in this pos for seventeen years. In this role he transformed the Academy's highly practical hands-on training, expanding it to include a much wider range of career pathways; an optional third year of study, taking it to degree level; adding the first new technical department in RADA for over sixty years (Video & Digital Projection); and doubling the technical, stage management and design student body to rival its acting contingent.

He was Visiting Professor at the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts in Beijing from 2008-12; taught annually at the National School of Drama, New Delhi, India, from 2008-19; and was guest lecturer at the International Festival of Theatre Schools (IFTS) in Kerala, India, from 2023 onwards. He was an external examiner for Rose Bruford College and Wimbledon School of Art; wrote the technical training programme for The Lir in Dublin; and was Chair of several committees for the Conference of Drama Schools.

He has written books on theatre history, lighting and sound design, including Stage Lighting Design (Crowood Press, 1999; second edition, 2017) and The Backstage Bible (Nick Hern Books, 2026).