A.C. Smith is a poet, performer, scriptwriter and songwriter working at the intersection of words and performance. She specialises in interdisciplinary collaboration, with projects spanning theatre, circus, mime, photography, and film. Her work often renders true stories in dramatic form — from BBC World Service’s The Bomb (S1), to autobiographical poetry, to community collaborations with schoolchildren, pensioners, people with nonverbal learning disabilities, and people living with dementia.
She has won awards from the Royal Shakespeare Company and Soho Theatre, and been shortlisted for the Verity Bargate and Adrian Pagan Awards. Her writing has been performed at Soho Theatre, the Old Vic, RADA, Southwark Playhouse, Theatre503, HighTide Festival, the Barbican, and beyond. She was a member of the Bush Theatre’s Emerging Writers Group and the Southbank Centre’s New Poets Collective.
As one half of Barlow & Smith, her musical theatre work with composer Bella Barlow includes the feminist thriller LOCK & KEY (VAULT Festival, Stage Pick of the Week), and VANYA’S, a jazz-infused reimagining of Chekhov, currently in development with support from the Old Vic Workrooms, Criterion Theatre, and ArtsEd. Their songs have been performed internationally — from Joe’s Pub (NYC) to the Theatre Royal Haymarket — and they were featured in Janie Dee’s Beautiful World cabaret series at Crazy Coqs & Charing Cross Theatre.
A.C. has taught writing and dramaturgy at institutions including RADA, Royal Central School of Speech & Drama, University of Portsmouth, University of Southampton, and the Poetry School. She currently co-leads the Advanced Lab II for Mercury Musical Developments, a creative development space for writers of musical theatre.
Her publications include The Words Will Come (Oberon) and the poem “Divergence” in The Horizonary A to Z (Simon Adamczewski). She also curates Where the Roses Bloom, a creative newsletter and seasonal exploration of artistic practice.
A.C. holds a BA from Harvard and an MA from RADA/King’s College London. She is represented by Rachel Daniels at Berlin Associates.
Contact: contact@ac-smith.com