Alexandru Dabija was born in Bicaz. He studied stage direction in Bucharest and debuted in 1976 at the Theatre of Youth in Piatra-Neamţ with his staging of a play by Philip Massinger, which resulted in an award for the best achievement in directing that year. He stayed close to the theatre that then went by the byname "Best Theatre in Bucharest" and put on stage plays by Shakespeare and Caragiale, in Iaşi his "Chiriţa" (written by Vasile Alecsandri) becomes a sensation.

Since 1991 he is also directing at the Odeon Theatre in Bucharest whose general manager he was from 1991 to 1994 and 1996 to 2002.

He works nationwide with an interest in Romanian and foreign contemporary dramatic writing as well as in classical works. His productions are invited to festivals in Romania and abroad.

In 1996, he wins the UNITER-award for Best Play, in 2000 and 2008 he is nominated for the same category, and in 2006, 2008 and 2011 for Best Directing. 2009 he receives the award for Best Radio Drama. In 2010, he wins a UNITER-award for directing Pyramus&Thisbe 4 you at the Odeon Theatre (2009).

In 2007, his production Ionesco – five short plays wins the award for Best Play at the Festival for Romanian Plays, Timişoara, as well as for Best Directing at the National Comedy Festival in Galaţi. The Romanian Ministery for Culture honours Alexandru Dabija 2008 with the National Art Prize in the theatre section.

In 2009, Dabija directs his first play at the National Theatre in Bucharest (A duel, based on Chekhov) and debuted directly after with Ionesco's The Bald Soprano at the German State Theatre  Timişoara. The theatre invites him again in 2013 to direct A respectable Wedding (Brecht).