Sam is an interdisciplinary artist, actor, director, and educator originally from Boise, Idaho. He’s currently a PhD student on the scholar/artist track in Ohio University’s School of Interdisciplinary Arts where his primary area of study is Theatre and Performance Studies with a secondary creative focus in Acting. Sam also holds an MFA in Acting from the University of Alabama and a BA in Theatre Arts from Furman University. He has worked professionally as an actor throughout the United States and internationally, having appeared in performances Off-Broadway and at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. As a generalist, Sam has also directed plays and radio dramas, designed and constructed masks for dramatic performance and training, served as technical director and production manager for the Tryon Fine Arts Center, and worked as a professional lighting designer for drama, concerts, musical theatre, and stand-up comedy performances. Sam’s research focuses on the history and theory of acting as well as performance training and pedagogy. He recently presented at the Mid-America Theatre Conference with his essay “Counter-Hegemonic Interpretation: Dario Fo’s Characterization and Satire Through Intersemiotic Translation.”
After graduating from Boise High School, Sam moved to Greenville, South Carolina to pursue a Liberal Arts education at Furman University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts degree after studying Acting, Design, Stage Management, and Theatre History.
During his time at Furman, Sam also began expanding his research interests with multiple study abroad programs allowing him to pursue classical training internationally at The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust’s Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon, and Accademia dell’Arte in Arezzo, Italy.
After graduating in 2017, Sam pursued his passions for expanding arts accessibility in rural America. While working and traveling throughout the Southeast as a performer, designer, and technician, Sam dedicated his career to creating theatrical performances particularly geared towards inviting non-traditional audience populations. Some of Sam’s most fulfilling experiences as an actor have been defined by those who make up the audiences he’s served. From performing a musical revue exploring the themes of imprisonment for incarcerated populations in West Virginia to Shakespeare adapted to question gender biases in upstate South Carolina, Sam has worked to create a culture of performance that fractures typical economic, social, cultural, and educational barriers.
Beyond theatre, Sam has also worked in radio sketch comedy, audio-plays, and dramatic readings for the podcast platform. He also has substantial experience in theatrical design and production having worked as a visiting costume and scenic designer at James F. Byrnes High School in Duncan, South Carolina as well as Technical Director and Production Manager at the Tryon Fine Arts Center in Tryon, North Carolina. In addition to having designed and stage managed numerous plays and concerts as well as dance and stand-up comedy performances, Sam is also a mask maker, having trained in and taught workshops on classical mask construction and performance techniques.
Sam earned his Master of Fine Arts degree specializing in acting at the University of Alabama’s School of Theatre & Dance. Under the tutelage of Seth Panitch, Kelley Schoger, Allison Hetzel, and Steve Burch, Sam expanded his skills with classes in Shakespeare, the Alexander Technique, Rodenburg & Fitzmaurice Vocal Training, Acting for Film, Acting Pedagogy, Script Analysis, Dramatic Theory & Criticism, Theatre History, and Playwriting. While at Alabama, Sam performed in numerous departmental productions and earned the Marian Gallaway Award for Distinguished Graduate Acting during his first year. He also served as a Graduate Teacher at UA, leading introductory theatre and acting courses in online, hybrid, and face-to-face formats.
In addition to continuing his acting training at Ohio University while pursuing his PhD, Sam is also taking courses in Aesthetics & Philosophy of Art, Theatre & Ethics, Dramaturgy, Critical Theory, Performance Ethnography, and Interdisciplinary Arts. He also serves as a Graduate Instructor for undergraduate theatre history courses in OU’s School of Theatre.