John Macfarlane studied at Glasgow School of Art and pursues careers in theatre and painting. Dance designs include Sir Peter Wright’s Giselle (The Royal Ballet, London), Glen Tetley’s La Ronde and Liam Scarlett’s Frankenstein, Asphodel Meadows, Sweet Violets and The Age of Anxiety (Royal Ballet), Hummingbird (San Francisco Ballet), and The Nutcracker and Cinderella (Birmingham Royal Ballet). In 2018 he designed the sets and costumes for Swan Lake (Royal Ballet). Opera designs include Peter Grimes, Die Zauberflöte, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, and L’Heure espagnole/Gianni Schicchi (Royal Opera), Hansel and Gretel (WNO, Metropolitan Opera, New York), Queen of Spades (WNO), War and Peace (Opéra Bastille), La Clemenza di Tito (Paris Opéra), Trojans (ENO), Don Giovanni (La Monnaie, San Francisco), Elektra and Rusalka (Chicago), The Rake’s Progress (Scottish Opera) and recently Maria Stuarda, Tosca, The Flying Dutchman and Agrippina (all for Metropolitan Opera) and Macbeth (Chicago). In 2015 and 2019 he was made Designer Laureate of Benois de la Danse (Moscow) and he is a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 2021 John received the Outstanding Creative Contribution Award from the Critics Circle at the National Dance Awards.

His published works include John Macfarlane – Theatre Design and Studio (2024).