Alastair Rao is a storyteller from the San Francisco Bay Area. Raised by early childhood obsessions with community theater, Barbie movies, and reality television, Alastair believes in the power of entertainment to bring color to the gray situations, cultivate durable communities, and foster dialogue. A graduate of Yale University's History department, he is passionate about creating civically-engaged art that is researched and amplifies the experiences of historically marginalized communities.

At Yale, he directed original plays, directing a reading for the 2023 Yale Playwrights’ Festival and Stefani Kuo's delicacy of a puffin heart, alongside beloved musicals, including a sold-out run of Legally Blonde‍ in Yale's 640-seat University Theater. He was also the president of the Asian American Collective of Theatermakers, where he produced and directed Asian theater such as Peeling Oranges‍ ‍by Patty Kim Hamilton and john & jen‍ at Yale's Schwarzman Center. A collaborator at heart, Alastair has mentored first-time theatermakers and has experience working with professional directors, designers, and technicians. He most recently collaborated with the Yale Schwarzman Center again to direct Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years.

Video clips of his productions are available upon request.