Our People
Ross McKellar & Stephanie McKellar-Smith
Ross McKellar
Company Director
Ross graduated from the Theatre Corporate Drama School in the early 1980s. He has performed professionally in Aotearoa ever since.
He spent 15 years as a senior lecturer at NASDA (National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Art) Bachelor of Performing Arts Degree in Christchurch, teaching on the acting and voice programmes as well as directing performance outcomes.
He holds a Master of Arts Practice in Performance (with Distinction) from Charles Sturt University in Australia.
Ross has performed on most of New Zealand’s main theatre stages including a season taking his clothes off in Ladies Night (Fortune Theatre). His Court Theatre credits include; Home Land, Much Ado About Nothing, Pacific Post, August: Osage County, Amadeus and playing the title role in the premiere production of Gary Henderson's play Shepherd.
Some of Ross’ television and film credits include; The Billy T James Show, Gloss, Hercules, Siege, Shortland Street, An Angel at My Table, The End of the Golden Weather, Fifty Ways of Saying Fabulous, Vertical Limit, Brokenwood Mysteries, Filthy Rich, Dear Murderer.
Ross has been committed to youth theatre throughout his career and has been instrumental in starting up or running a number of community based youth companies in New Zealand including The Auckland Youth Theatre & Drama School and NASDA Centrestage in Christchurch. He has written shows for both children and adults for most of his career and was a founder of the Theatre-In-Education touring company The Other Company - BP Performers in Schools. Ross also penned the original play Pacific Post, with Stephanie, which had a successful season at The Court Theatre in Christchurch.
Currently Ross is Co-Theatre Manager at Centrestage Theatre in Orewa, Auckland
Stephanie McKellar-Smith
Company Director
After receiving a ‘Best New Director’ award from the NZ Theatre Federation in 1983 Stephanie attended, on scholarship, a theatre summer school in the Hawkes Bay. This led to her being offered a position as Director-in-Training with Theatre Corporate in Auckland where Stephanie directed and acted for the studio and main theatres and became Assistant Director and Artistic Director of the Community Theatre Company.
In 1987 Stephanie took up the position of Artistic Director of the Auckland Youth Theatre & Drama School. In 1988 she was awarded an AGC Young Achievers Award which funded her attendance on a Directors Course at Regents College in London with the British Theatre Association. Stephanie was a founding member of The Other Company BP Performers in Schools, a professional theatre company which performed for the general public and also toured extensively throughout New Zealand schools for eleven years.
For fifteen years Stephanie was the co-ordinator of the acting programme with NASDA (National Academy of Singing and Dramatic Art) in Christchurch and directed a wide range of plays and musicals for the school.
Throughout her career Stephanie has directed and produced many professional productions including; Cinderella, Objection Overruled, Comedy of Errors, The Sneeze, Me & My Vice (ASB Laugh Festival and for a season at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival),
The Great Piratical Rumbustification, The Raft(World Premiere), Blackbird, Homeland,
Pacific Post, and August: Osage County at The Court Theatre in Christchurch
In 2014 Stephanie directed Lungs by Duncan Macmillan for the Fortune Theatre True Grit season in Dunedin.
In 2015 Stephanie began working with Ali Harper on Ali's new show A Doris Day Special, which premiered at The Court Theatre in Christchurch and continued to tour in New Zealand towns and cities until 2019.
In 2019 & 2020 Stephanie directed Di and Viv and Rose for Fusion Productions with seasons at Circa Theatre, Wellington, Mayfair Theatre, Dunedin and the Pumphouse Theatre, Auckland.
In 2006 and 2007 Stephanie appeared in the world premiere of Gary Henderson's play Peninsula at The Court Theatre and in the later tours of this production to the Brisbane and Nelson Arts Festivals. Stephanie also appeared in The Court Theatre’s production of The Gods of Warm Beer.
Stephanie has undertaken a number of roles in television productions, short films and TVCs, including playing Judy Billingham in Shortland Street and Reebie in the NZ Feature Film Fifty Ways of Saying Fabulous.
Stephanie has a Master of Arts Practise in Directing (with Distinction) from Charles Sturt University, Australia.
Currently Stephanie is Co-Theatre Manger at Centrestage Theatre in Orewa, Auckland.