About
‘Who needed sets, when Rayner effectively had six pieces of human scenery to play with? [...] It was fantastically detailed stuff, intrinsic to the storytelling.’
- Erica Jeal, The Guardian, SERSE (Director)
--------------------
Hello - I’m Sam.
As a director, I create playful, highly physical productions - from acrobatic adaptations of classics to genre-bending new writing. My work has been named as Critic’s Picks in Playbill and The New York Times, and featured in The Guardian’s “Readers’ Favourite Stage Shows of 2022”. I’ve also created movement for television productions produced by Tiger Aspect, Netflix, HBO and A24.
Recent directing includes:
- A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM and SERSE for Opera Holland Park (“fantastically detailed” - The Guardian / “a tremendous success” - Broadway World)
- MAN OF 100 FACES (one of The Guardian’s “Readers’ Favourite Shows of 2022”)
- FIVE YEARS WITH THE WHITE MAN (published by Nick Hern Books / “Rayner directs with a sure hand and clear vision” - Salterton Arts Review).
With Voloz Collective, I’ve created:
- THE MAN WHO THOUGHT HE KNEW TOO MUCH (“physical theatre at its most immaculate” - The Scotsman)
- THE LIFE SPORADIC OF JESS WILDGOOSE (“staged with style” - The Guardian).
These shows are currently touring on the mid-scale internationally.
As a movement director, I have collaborated with comedians including Jack Whitehall, Leo Reich, Liam Williams and Richard Gadd - creating work described as “The Best Comedy Show of 2022” (The Guardian), an “intensely funny razzle-dazzle song-and-dance opener” (The Guardian), and “a fearless display of physicality that shape shifts from ludicrous tomfoolery to raw menace.” (The List)
A full list of my work, training and teaching can be viewed here.
- Erica Jeal, The Guardian, SERSE (Director)
--------------------
Hello - I’m Sam.
I’m a director and movement director - working across theatre, opera and stand-up comedy. I’m currently Resident Director of Back to the Future (West End) and Joint Artistic Director of the multi-award-winning, international physical theatre company Voloz Collective.
As a director, I create playful, highly physical productions - from acrobatic adaptations of classics to genre-bending new writing. My work has been named as Critic’s Picks in Playbill and The New York Times, and featured in The Guardian’s “Readers’ Favourite Stage Shows of 2022”. I’ve also created movement for television productions produced by Tiger Aspect, Netflix, HBO and A24.
Recent directing includes:
- A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM and SERSE for Opera Holland Park (“fantastically detailed” - The Guardian / “a tremendous success” - Broadway World)
- MAN OF 100 FACES (one of The Guardian’s “Readers’ Favourite Shows of 2022”)
- FIVE YEARS WITH THE WHITE MAN (published by Nick Hern Books / “Rayner directs with a sure hand and clear vision” - Salterton Arts Review).
With Voloz Collective, I’ve created:
- THE MAN WHO THOUGHT HE KNEW TOO MUCH (“physical theatre at its most immaculate” - The Scotsman)
- THE LIFE SPORADIC OF JESS WILDGOOSE (“staged with style” - The Guardian).
These shows are currently touring on the mid-scale internationally.
As a movement director, I have collaborated with comedians including Jack Whitehall, Leo Reich, Liam Williams and Richard Gadd - creating work described as “The Best Comedy Show of 2022” (The Guardian), an “intensely funny razzle-dazzle song-and-dance opener” (The Guardian), and “a fearless display of physicality that shape shifts from ludicrous tomfoolery to raw menace.” (The List)
I am fluent in French and Spanish. I speak and read basic Arabic.
A full list of my work, training and teaching can be viewed here.
