Sam Walters
Sam Walters, 27 August 2009
Born1939[1]
Spouse(s)Auriol Smith, married 1964
ChildrenTwo daughters: Dorcas Walters, Octavia Walters

Sam Walters MBE (born 11 October 1939) is a British theatre director who retired in 2014 as artistic director of the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond, London. He has also directed in the West End and at Ipswich, Canterbury and Greenwich, as well as at LAMDA, RADA and Webber Douglas. After 42 years Walters, the United Kingdom's longest-serving artistic director,[2] and his wife and associate director, Auriol Smith, stepped down from their posts at the Orange Tree Theatre in June 2014.[3]

Career

Early years

Sam Walters was educated at Felsted School and while there, in 1957, he won the Public Schools Debating Association public speaking competition. He also captained the Essex Young Amateurs cricket team. He then took a degree at Merton College, Oxford (1959–62), where he was president of the Experimental Theatre Club.[4] He trained as an actor at LAMDA (1962–64) turning to directing with the formation of the Worcester Repertory Company in 1967.

The Orange Tree Theatre

He was invited to establish Jamaica's first full-time theatre company and drama school,[5] and on his return to England in 1971 he founded the Orange Tree Theatre, first in a room above the Orange Tree pub and then in a purpose-built theatre, in a converted former school. The Orange Tree was London's first purpose-built Theatre in the Round.[5]

"When we started the Orange Tree Theatre in 1971, we only wanted to put on plays. There was no political or social aim, nor did we philosophise about theatre-in-the-round or a style of minimal theatre. There was no money for stage lights or a raised stage, so we performed by daylight on the same floor level as the seating. And we discovered the excitement of making the audience part of the action." (Sam Walters in conversation with Marsha Hanlon for the Orange Tree Theatre appeal brochure in 1991).

Walters won a Time Out Award for his 1987–88 season in the old theatre, being described as a "theatrical totter", and in 1989 was awarded a Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship, part of which he spent in Prague during the Velvet Revolution, and part in Moscow and Leningrad.

In 1991 he received the Charrington Fringe Award for Outstanding Achievement in Small Theatre, which was followed by the Empty Space Peter Brook award for the work of the 1992–93 company season.

In 1993–94 he took a year away from the Orange Tree, taught in America and visited all fellow theatres-in-the-round. In 2012 he was awarded a Special Achievement Award at the Off West End Theatre Awards. In 2009 he was made an Honorary Doctor of Letters by Kingston University. He received a Peter Brook Special Achievement Award at the 2013 Empty Space Peter Brook awards.[6]

Honours

He was appointed MBE in 1999. He and his wife Auriol Smith received the Freedom of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in December 2014.[7]

Productions

Sam Walters' productions at the Orange Tree Theatre include:

Old Orange Tree Theatre

New Orange Tree Theatre

Personal life

Sam Walters is married to actress-director Auriol Smith, whom he met while doing pantomime at Rotherham in 1962.[5] They have two daughters: Dorcas Walters, who was principal dancer with Birmingham Royal Ballet and now works in arts administration, and Octavia Walters, formerly an actress, now a sports injury masseur.

References

  1. ^ Dennis Kennedy (2010). The Oxford Companion to Theatre and Performance. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199574193. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  2. ^ a b c Tim Masters (23 August 2011). "Sam Walters on the Orange Tree's 40 fruitful years". BBC News. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  3. ^ "Walters steps down at Orange Tree". BBC News. 4 July 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  4. ^ R G C Levens, ed. (1964). Merton College Register 1900-1964. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. p. 518.
  5. ^ a b c Richard Nye (January 2014). "Life in the Round". The Richmond Magazine.
  6. ^ "Sam Walters receives Peter Brook Special Achievement Award". Orange Tree Theatre. 5 November 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  7. ^ Tom Ambrose (12 December 2014). "Orange Tree Theatre founders get freedom of Richmond". Richmond and Twickenham Times. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
  8. ^ Tom Coghlan (5 April 2012). "The Times | UK News, World News and Opinion". The Times. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  9. ^ Michael Billington (6 January 2010). "The Lady or the Tiger". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  10. ^ John Thaxter (7 January 2010). "The Stage / Reviews / The Lady or the Tiger". Thestage.co.uk. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  11. ^ "Theatre review: Once Bitten at Orange Tree, Richmond". Britishtheatreguide.info. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
  12. ^ "Theatre review: Reading Hebron at Orange Tree Theatre". Britishtheatreguide.info. 12 March 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2012.

Sources

External links

Authority control databases
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