‘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)
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Sam is a director and movement director - working across opera, theatre and comedy. He develops new material and reimagines classics - using physicality to inspire the imagination. His work includes Critic’s Picks in Playbill and The New York Times, shows listed in The Guardian’s “Readers’ Favourite Stage Shows of 2022”, and award-winning and OFFIE-nominated productions.
A full list of his work can be viewed here.
His recent directing credits include acrobatic stagings of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM and SERSE for Opera Holland Park (‘fantastically detailed’, The Guardian); MAN OF ONE HUNDRED FACES (UK Tour) - a story of espionage in Revolutionary Russia (listed in The Guardian’s “Readers’ Favourite Stage Shows of 2022”); THE MAN WHO THOUGHT HE KNEW TOO MUCH (UK and international tour) - a film-noir pastiche (‘physical theatre at its most immaculate’, The Scotsman); and THE LIFE SPORADIC OF JESS WILDGOOSE - a counter-historical account of the 2008 finanical crisis (’staged with style’, The Guardian).
As a movement director for comedy, Sam‘s work includes collaborations with Jack Whitehall, Charlotte Ritchie, Leo Reich, Richard Gadd, Liam Williams and Jordan Brookes. His movement direction credits include: JACK WHITEHALL: AT LARGE (Hammersmith Apollo/UK Tour/NETFLIX); LEO REICH: LITERALLY WHO CARES?! (The Guardian’s “Best Comedy Show of 2022”); SHEEPS: LIVE & LOUD (Soho Theatre/Pleasance Courtyard) - where The Guardian described the show’s ‘razzle-dazzle song-and-dance opener’ as ‘intensely funny’; and JORDAN BROOKES: BLEED (Soho Theatre/Pleasance Courtyard), described as ‘a fearless display of physicality that shape shifts from ludicrous tomfoolery to raw menace.’ (The List)
Sam has delivered workshops for the Royal Northern College of Music, Associated Studios, and St Mary’s University. He leads workshops internationally for Voloz Collective and teaches movement at Actors Door Studio.
Sam trained at Cambridge University and l’École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq. He has full working proficiency in French and Spanish.
- Erica Jeal, The Guardian, SERSE (Director)
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Sam is a director and movement director - working across opera, theatre and comedy. He develops new material and reimagines classics - using physicality to inspire the imagination. His work includes Critic’s Picks in Playbill and The New York Times, shows listed in The Guardian’s “Readers’ Favourite Stage Shows of 2022”, and award-winning and OFFIE-nominated productions.
A full list of his work can be viewed here.
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His recent directing credits include acrobatic stagings of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM and SERSE for Opera Holland Park (‘fantastically detailed’, The Guardian); MAN OF ONE HUNDRED FACES (UK Tour) - a story of espionage in Revolutionary Russia (listed in The Guardian’s “Readers’ Favourite Stage Shows of 2022”); THE MAN WHO THOUGHT HE KNEW TOO MUCH (UK and international tour) - a film-noir pastiche (‘physical theatre at its most immaculate’, The Scotsman); and THE LIFE SPORADIC OF JESS WILDGOOSE - a counter-historical account of the 2008 finanical crisis (’staged with style’, The Guardian).
As a movement director for comedy, Sam‘s work includes collaborations with Jack Whitehall, Charlotte Ritchie, Leo Reich, Richard Gadd, Liam Williams and Jordan Brookes. His movement direction credits include: JACK WHITEHALL: AT LARGE (Hammersmith Apollo/UK Tour/NETFLIX); LEO REICH: LITERALLY WHO CARES?! (The Guardian’s “Best Comedy Show of 2022”); SHEEPS: LIVE & LOUD (Soho Theatre/Pleasance Courtyard) - where The Guardian described the show’s ‘razzle-dazzle song-and-dance opener’ as ‘intensely funny’; and JORDAN BROOKES: BLEED (Soho Theatre/Pleasance Courtyard), described as ‘a fearless display of physicality that shape shifts from ludicrous tomfoolery to raw menace.’ (The List)
Sam’s credits as Associate Director include Broken Wings (Theatre Royal Haymarket/Dubai Opera/Katara Opera); Umm Kulthum and the Golden Era (London Palladium/Dubai Opera) and The Adventures of Pinocchio (Ambassador’s Theatre). He regularly associate directs for Helen Eastman and Olivier-nominee Bronagh Lagan.
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Sam is a co-Artistic Director of the multi-award-winning international physical theatre company Voloz Collective and new-writing comedy company Unleash the Llama. He directs for Figure Ensemble, staging highly-physical opera apatations.
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Sam has delivered workshops for the Royal Northern College of Music, Associated Studios, and St Mary’s University. He leads workshops internationally for Voloz Collective and teaches movement at Actors Door Studio.
Sam trained at Cambridge University and l’École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq. He has full working proficiency in French and Spanish.