John Smythe's freelance career as a writer, actor, director, teacher and theatre critic spans five decades. His professional acting career began at Downstage and in the New Zealand Players Drama Quartet. A graduate of the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Australia, he stayed on for a further 15 years, working in theatre, television and film. Returning in 1985 to New Zealand, he has pursued a varied career as an actor and as a writer for stage, screen, print and the internet. After seven years as a theatre critic for the National Business Review, Smythe founded theatrereview.org.nz and remains its managing editor. He is the author of a novel, The Peace Monster (Vintage 1991), and Downstage Upfront: the first 40 years of New Zealand's longest-running professional theatre (VUP 2004).