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). I’ve just completed work on Mart Crowley’s seminal work The Boys In The Band at Chapel Off Chapel and prior to this my most recent commercial work Elvis: A Musical Revolution was an international première and just recently completed a national tour. Before 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); Billy Elliot (Footlight Productions); 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).

UPCOMING PRODUCTIONS

A CHORUS LINE - The Queensland Conservatorium - Musical Theatre

TARZAN! - James Terry Collective & The National Theatre

THE DROWSY CHAPERONE - The Victorian College Of The Arts - Musical Theatre

***Create dynamic theatre that ignites imagination and inspires action***

*- Alister Smith*

ELVIS: A Musical Revolution

2024 National Tour - Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Perth, Adelaide

“Director Alister Smith succeeded in capturing the personal and emotional aspects of Elvis’s life. Intimate moments, both joyful and turbulent, were artfully woven into the narrative, giving the audience a glimpse into the man behind the music. This added depth ensured that Elvis A Musical Revolution wasn’t just a tribute to an iconic artist but also a celebration of his humanity.”

— Theatre Matters

CRUEL INTENTIONS

2022 / 2023 National Tour - Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Gold Coast, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra

THE BOYS IN THE BAND

By Mart Crowley

The James Terry Collective | Chapel Off Chapel 2025

“Mart Crowley’s seminal play, The Boys in the Band, has been masterfully revived under the direction of Alister Smith.”

— Australian Arts Review

“Director Alister Smith has ripped the band aid off the trials and tribulations of gayness and we, the audience, are the beneficiaries. Smith’s strength lies in maintaining his probing and unrelenting gaze. ”

— The Blurb

“Director Alister Smith has skilfully unearthed the core emotional truth of Crowley’s work. Smith has his nine actors immerse themselves in their roles with a keen focus on the sensibilities and foibles of the time. Nothing is presented with even a hint of irony; no rough edges are smoothed away with a postmodern lens.

A further achievement of Smith’s direction is the sheer believability of the real time party setting. The characters interact with a vivid sense of spontaneity, as though the action is simply unfolding rather than following a script. There is a palpable sense of shared friendship and understanding between the characters. Peaks and troughs of raucous humour and tender pathos are expertly charted, with the audience keenly on board for every moment.”

— Man In Chair

**THE BOYS IN THE BAND By Mart Crowley - The James Terry Collective & Chapel Off Chapel**

“Director Alister Smith handles his nine characters – often all on stage at once – with skill and sensitivity, directing our attention where it needs to be as each of the boys has their moment in the comedy or, as it becomes, a melee of accusations, rage, and revelation. ”

— Stage Whispers

“Directed with pinpoint accuracy by Alister Smith... A brave and balls-to-the-wall bold, this is a top-drawer comic-drama not to be missed. ”

— Theatre Matters

“The Boys in the Band, directed by Allister Smith, is a masterfully executed production”

— RMITV

THE WEDDING SINGER

The 2020 / 2021 International Tour - Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, Gold Coast, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Auckland, Wellington

WINNER BEST PRODUCTION - MUSICAL - 2022 GREENROOM AWARDS

WINNER BEST DIRECTOR OF A MUSICAL - 2022 GREENROOM AWARDS

“Simply miraculous! ”

— Broadway World

BRING IT ON: The musical

National Tour 2018 / 2019

“Alister Smith directs with pep and precision, confecting a musical theatre experience where dance, acting, acrobatics and song effortlessly combine.”

— The Age

PROJECT: HYSTERIA - Tennessee Williams

Interior Panic | THE PRETTY TRAP

TBC Theatre for The Poppyseed Festival

“This vision, before the plays themselves have even begun, is a triumph by director Alister Smith”

— Stage Whispers

**PROJECT: HYSTERIA - Tennessee Williams / TBC Theatre**

ESSENTIAL THEATRE COMPANY

MACBETH - 2020 TOUR

ROMEO & JULIET - 2021 TOUR

THE DREAM LAB 2022 - An Immersive Work based on A Midsummer Night’s Dream

A VERY NAUGHTY CHRISTMAS: 2023 - Current

Contributing Director & Co-Creative - Melbourne, Queensland, Sydney, London Tours

**A VERY NAUGHTY CHRISTMAS - Woodward Productions**

UNIVERSITY & ACADEMY PRODUCTIONS

A selction of the over 50 productions I’ve directed for the leading universities and professional arts institutions across Australia.

**MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING by William Shakespeare - VCA Theatre**

OTHER PRODUCTION HIGHLIGHTS

A series of other production highlights that stretch across my career from community theatre collaborations, independent theatre and commercial theatre engagments