There will be appropriately enthusiastic applause when a renowned performer and long-time resident of Bathurst receives her PhD at a Charles Sturt University (CSU) graduation ceremony this week.

Dr Kate Smith (pictured), who is otherwise celebrated locally and beyond as the infamous cabaret character 'Rusty Nails', will be awarded her PhD from the CSU School of Communication and Creative Industries at the Faculty of Arts ceremony in Bathurst at 3pm Thursday 17 December.

Dr Smith's PhD research thesis – 'The partial performer meets the partial spectator: transgressing the frame in popular entertainment' – is based on a case study of The Famous Spiegeltent.

"My research investigated the staging of performance from both spatial and social perspectives, and applied an innovative approach to practice-based research to construct its findings," Dr Smith said.

"The thesis proposes a new theory of performer-spectator interaction, and describes this experience as the partial performer-partial spectator transgression. This experience blurs the role between performing and spectating, and produces a sense of otherness that creates a partial experience of community."

Dr Smith said it was immensely satisfying undertake such a 'long-haul challenge' as a doing a PhD, and acknowledged the invaluable support of three CSU academic supervisors through the process; the late Professor John Carroll, Associate Professor Jane Mills, and  Professor Craig Bremner.

"The PhD meant I had to re-think how I see the world and develop sophisticated skills in writing and research," she said.

"The research has informed the way I communicate, write creatively and structure projects. It has deepened my capacity for complex thinking in multiple ways, on multiple levels. I am very excited to see what comes out when I write my next creative project."

Dr Smith, a former lecturer in theatre/media in the CSU School of Communication and Creative Industries in Bathurst, has started a creative content agency called Kate Smith Creative Consulting.

"The agency combines my skills in visual communication, scriptwriting, voice-over, research and project management to create content for websites for a range of businesses, including Charles Sturt University," Dr Smith said. "I am currently producing a range of work for the Dean of Student Services, Professor Julia Coyle, designed to enable students to access important information in an accessible way online."

To cap a busy week, Dr Smith is also reprising her cabaret character Rusty Nails (pictured) in the Speakeasy Christmas Cabaret at the Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre at 8pm Saturday 19 December.

"The Speakeasy Christmas Cabaret features local acts and a fabulous band with amazing musicians and comic mayhem, which makes it perfect for a Christmas party with friends," Dr Smith said.

In 2016, Dr Smith's celebrated show, Oh My God I Have Been Kidnapped and I Hate What I Am Wearing. The Musical, returns to a new theatre in Newtown, Sydney, called The Old 505 Theatre in Eliza Street. The season will run from Wednesday 11 to Sunday 29 May.