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I am a Naarm / Melbourne based Theatre Director, Maker, Writer & Educator. My work extends across a broad range of performance mediums including theatre, musical theatre, cabaret, and performance art. I also work extensively within the university sector lecturing in theatre, musical theatre, and professional practice; directing large-scale productions for the countries top performing arts academies. 

I’m a Greenroom Award winning Theatre Director and Dramaturge and a graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts (Theatre Directing) and The Arts Academy Ballarat (Company 2004 - Music Theatre Performance).  My most recent work Elvis: A Musical Revolution is an international première and is currently on a national tour. Prior to this I directed the national tour of Cruel Intentions The 90’s Musical (Australian Première - DVE) which has just completed playing across the country as well as the international tour of The Wedding Singer (Australian Première - DVE). With a career spanning 20 years some of my creative highlights include: Heathers! (VCA Music Theatre); Cry-Baby (QLD Academy of Excellence in Music Theatre); A Very Naughty Christmas (Woodward Productions); Into The Woods (Federation University); Fiddler On The Roof (Footlight Productions); 42nd Street (The QLD Conservatory); Grease (The QLD Conservatory & QPAC); Romeo & Juliet (Essential Theatre); Bring It On: The Musical (Australian Première and national tour - DVE); Heathers! (Federation University); Macbeth (Essential Theatre); London Road (The QLD Conservatory); The Drowsy Chaperone (VCA Music Theatre); The Boys (VCA Theatre); Much Ado About Nothing (VCA Theatre); Chicago (Federation University); Les Miserables (The QLD Conservatory); The Mystery Of Edwin Drood (Federation University); Wicked (Footlight Productions); Project: Hysteria - A Tennessee Williams Exploration (TBC Theatre Company); Femme Fatale (Melbourne Fringe 2015); URINETOWN! The Musical (VCA Music Theatre); Slavs! (The National Theatre Drama School); Pacific Overtures (Watch This Theatre Company & Manila Street Productions); Penelope (Red Stitch Actors Theatre); Himmelweg (The Smith Co); Behind Closed Doors (Red Stitch Actors Theatre); Tribes (The Melbourne Theatre Company); Hose (MKA Theatre of New Writing); John Patrick Shanley’s Doubt (VCA); The Threepenny Opera (The Smith Co).


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Create dynamic theatre that ignites imagination and inspires action

- Alister Smith


ELVIS: A MUSICAL REVOLUTION

ELVIS: A MUSICAL REVOLUTION

ELVIS: A MUSICAL REVOLUTION

CRUEL INTENTIONS: THE 90’S MUSICAL

CRUEL INTENTIONS: THE 90’S MUSICAL

BRING IT ON

BRING IT ON

THE WEDDING SINGER

THE WEDDING SINGER

CRY-BABY

FIDDLER ON THE ROOF

MACBETH

A VERY NAUGHTY CHRISTMAS ‘23

LES MISERABLES

PROJECT HYSTERIA

THE DROWSEY CHAPERONE

PACIFIC OVERTURES

DOUBT

42ND STREET

HIMMELWEG

ROMEO & JULIET

SLAVES!

GREASE

MACBETH 2020 - Essential Theatre

Fierce... Tremendous... Powerful... Wonderfully performed and directed!
— Theatre People
Director Alister Smith has elicited focused, committed performances from the cast
— Theatre People
EXCELLENT
— The Age
Superbly directed by Alister Smith
— The Heckler Review
Beautifully staged, beautifully designed and beautifully performed; a strikingly contemporary imagining of a modernist classic.
— Arts Hub
The direction by Alister Smith is sensitive and confident
— Time Out Melbourne