Kristine Landon-Smith (born 1958) is a British actor, director and artistic director of mixed Australian and Indian parentage. Together with Sudha Bhuchar, she founded the

Tamasha Theatre Company Tamasha Theatre Company is a British theatre company founded in 1989 by director Kristine Landon-Smith and actor-writer Sudha Bhuchar. ''Tamasha'' ( mr, तमाशा) is an Indian word meaning "spectacle". The company has brought contemporary ...

in 1989.

Life

Born in London, Landon-Smith grew up in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Australia. In 1978 she returned to the UK to train at the

Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland ( gd, Conservatoire Rìoghail na h-Alba), formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama ( gd, Acadamaidh Rìoghail Ciùil is Dràma na h-Alba) is a conservatoire of dance, drama, music, production, and ...

, and worked as an actress. In 1985 she co-founded the Inner Circle Theatre Company, producing and acting in a production of

Frank Wedekind Benjamin Franklin Wedekind (July 24, 1864 – March 9, 1918) was a German playwright. His work, which often criticizes bourgeois attitudes (particularly towards sex), is considered to anticipate expressionism and was influential in the de ...

's '' Spring Awakening'' at the

Young Vic The Young Vic Theatre is a performing arts venue located on The Cut, near the South Bank, in the London Borough of Lambeth. The Young Vic was established by Frank Dunlop in 1970. Kwame Kwei-Armah has been Artistic Director since February 201 ...

studio. In 1989, on placement as a director-teacher at the

National School of Drama National School of Drama (NSD) is a theatre training institute situated at New Delhi, India. It is an autonomous organization under Ministry of Culture, Government of India. It was set up in 1959 by the Sangeet Natak Akademi and became an indepe ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

, she adapted and directed a student production of

Mulk Raj Anand Mulk Raj Anand (12 December 1905 – 28 September 2004) was an Indian writer in English, recognised for his depiction of the lives of the poorer castes in traditional Indian society. One of the pioneers of Indo-Anglian fiction, he, togethe ...

's novel '' Untouchable''. On returning to the UK, she cofounded the

with her friend Sudha Bhuchar, and the company opened with a Hindi-English production of the play. She has continued to direct Tamasha's plays, and several radio plays. ''Women of the Dust'' won the Race in the Media Award for Best Radio Drama from the

Commission for Racial Equality The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom which aimed to address racial discrimination and promote racial equality. The commission was established in 1976, and disbanded in 2007 when its ...

. Landon-Smith directed the original 1996 performance of '' East is East'', and a 1999 production of the play at the

Oldham Coliseum Theatre Oldham Coliseum Theatre is a theatre in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. Found on Fairbottom Street in the town centre, Oldham's Coliseum is a repertory theatre which celebrated its centenary in 1987. Its interior makes it a great period c ...

. In 1999 she also directed

Jean Anouilh Jean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh (; 23 June 1910 – 3 October 1987) was a French dramatist whose career spanned five decades. Though his work ranged from high drama to absurdist farce, Anouilh is best known for his 1944 play ''Antigone'', an a ...

's ''The Orchestra'' at

Southwark Playhouse Southwark Playhouse is a theatre in London, located between Borough and Elephant and Castle tube stations. History The Southwark Playhouse Theatre Company was founded in 1993 by Juliet Alderdice and Tom Wilson. They identified the need for a h ...

. In 2001 she directed the Agatha Christie Festival season at the

Palace Theatre, Westcliff-on-Sea The Palace Theatre is a theatre Westcliff-on-Sea which is part of the city of Southend-on-sea in the English county of Essex. The theatre presents a range of performances, including drama, music and both local and national touring companies. T ...

. Landon-Smith has repeatedly worked at the

National Institute of Dramatic Art The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) is an Australian educational institution for the performing arts is based in Sydney, New South Wales. Founded in 1958, many of Australia's leading actors and directors trained at NIDA, including Cat ...

(NIDA) in Australia. As visiting international director in 2009, she directed the Australian premiere of ''East is East''. She returned in 2011 to direct a production of ''Port'', and in April 2013 took up a position in the acting department at NIDA. In 2019 she again directed Anouilh's ''The Orchestra'' in a TeatroLatino production at the Omnibus Theatre. Later that year she directed Tuyen Do's ''Summer Rolls'', a domestic drama about a family who have emigrated from war-torn Vietnam to

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, at the Park Theatre, London. In 2022 Landon-Smith called for actor training to move beyond Stanislavski's system, and free actors to incorporate the full range of their cultural backgrounds.

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Landon-Smith, Kristine 1958 births Living people British people of Australian descent British people of Indian descent Alumni of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland British theatre directors

Life

References

Further reading

External links