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

Sudha Bhuchar Sudha Bhuchar (born ) is a Tanzanian-born British Asian actor, playwright, and co-founder of the Tamasha Theatre Company. She is best known for Tamasha's ''Balti Kings'' (1999), ''A Fine Balance'' (2005), ''The Trouble with Asian Men'' (2005), ...

, 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'' () is an Indian word meaning "spectacle". The company has brought contemporary Asian-influenced dr ...

in 1989.

Life

Born in 1958 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, Landon-Smith grew up in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

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

Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (), formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama () is a conservatoire of dance, drama, music, production, and film in Glasgow, Scotland. It is a member of the Federation of Drama Schools. Founde ...

, 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 developme ...

'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. Nadia Fall has been artistic director since 2025, succeeding ...

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

National School of Drama National School of Drama (NSD) is a drama school 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 independent school ...

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, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

, 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 the English language, recognised for his depiction of the lives of the poorer class in the traditional Indian society. One of the pioneers of Indo-Anglian fiction, ...

's novel ''

Untouchable Untouchable or Untouchables may refer to: People * Untouchability, the practice of socially ostracizing a minority group of very low social status * Untouchables, word for the Dalits or Scheduled Castes of India * Untouchables (law enforcement), ...

''. 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 In-Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...

. 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. Located on Fairbottom Street in the town centre, it opened in 1887 as the Colosseum, a reconstruction of an 1885 wooden circus building, has since been rebuilt as a ma ...

. In 1999 she also directed

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

's ''The Orchestra'' at

Southwark Playhouse Southwark Playhouse is a theatre in London with two venues, both 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 ident ...

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

Palace Theatre, Westcliff-on-Sea The Palace Theatre is a theatre in Westcliff-on-Sea a suburb in the city of Southend-on-Sea, Southend-on-sea in the county of Essex, England. The theatre presents a range of performances, including drama, music and both local and national tou ...

. 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 based in Sydney, New South Wales. Founded in 1958, it offers bachelor's, master's and vocational degrees in subjects including acting ...

(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 Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, at the Park Theatre, London. In 2022, Landon-Smith called for actor training to move beyond

Stanislavski's system Stanislavski's system is a systematic approach to training actors that the Russian theatre practitioner Konstantin Stanislavski developed in the first half of the twentieth century. His system cultivates what he calls the "art of experiencing ...

, 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 Alumni of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland British actresses British people of Australian descent British people of Indian descent British theatre directors British women theatre directors

Life

References

Further reading

External links