Sam Walters

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(born 11 October 1939) is a British theatre director who retired in 2014 as artistic director of the

Orange Tree Theatre The Orange Tree Theatre is a 180-seat theatre at 1 Clarence Street, Richmond in south-west London, which was built specifically as a theatre in the round. It is housed within a disused 1867 primary school, built in Victorian Gothic style. T ...

Richmond, London Richmond is a town in south-west London,The London Government Act 1963 (c.33) (as amended) categorises the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames as an Outer London borough. Although it is on both sides of the River Thames, the Boundary Commiss ...

. He has also directed in the West End and at

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

and

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

, as well as at

LAMDA LaMDA, which stands for Language Model for Dialogue Applications, is a family of conversational neural language models developed by Google. The first generation was announced during the 2021 Google I/O keynote, while the second generation was a ...

RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Senat ...

and Webber Douglas. After 42 years Walters, the United Kingdom's longest-serving artistic director, and his wife and associate director, Auriol Smith, stepped down from their posts at the Orange Tree Theatre in June 2014.

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 Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of Oxford University, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the ...

(1959–62), where he was president of the

Experimental Theatre Club __NOTOC__ :''This club should not be confused with the La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club of New York.'' The Experimental Theatre Club (ETC) is a student dramatic society at the University of Oxford, England. It was founded in 1936 by Nevill Cogh ...

. 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 Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

's first full-time theatre company and drama school, 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. "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 Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

during the

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution ( cs, Sametová revoluce) or Gentle Revolution ( sk, Nežná revolúcia) was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations agains ...

, and part in Moscow and

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. In 1991 he received the Charrington Fringe Award for Outstanding Achievement in Small Theatre, which was followed by the

Empty Space Peter Brook award ''The Empty Space'' is a 1968 book by the British director Peter Brook examining four modes or points of view on theatre: Deadly; Holy; Rough; and Immediate. The book is based on a series of four lectures endowed by Granada Television and deliv ...

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 , mottoeng = "Through Learning We Progress" , established = – gained University Status – Kingston Technical Institute , type = Public , endowment = £2.3 m (2015) , ...

. He received a Peter Brook Special Achievement Award at the 2013 Empty Space Peter Brook awards.

Honours

He was appointed MBE in 1999. He and his wife Auriol Smith received the Freedom of the

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in southwest London forms part of Outer London and is the only London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas amalgamated under the London ...

in December 2014.

Productions

Sam Walters' productions at the Orange Tree Theatre include:

Old Orange Tree Theatre

*''Go Tell It on Table Mountain'' (Evan Jones), the Orange Tree's opening production on 31 December 1971 *''Games'' and ''After Liverpool'' (James Saunders) 1972 *''George Reborn'' (David Cregan) 1973 *''The Borage Pigeon Affair'' (James Saunders) 1973 *''Bye Bye Blues'' (James Saunders) 1973 *''Transcending'' (David Cregan) *''Next Time I'll Sing to You'' (James Saunders) 1974 *''Tina'' (David Cregan) 1975 *''Transcending'' (David Cregan), February 1976 *''The Memorandum'' (

Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and former dissident. Havel served as the last president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1992 and then as ...

), February 1977 *''Bodies'' ( James Saunders), April 1977 *''Find Me'' (Olwen Wymark) 1977 *''Cast Off'' (David Cregan) 1978) *''Mr Director'' (Fay weldon) 1978 *''Family Circles'' (

Alan Ayckbourn Sir Alan Ayckbourn (born 12 April 1939) is a prolific British playwright and director. He has written and produced as of 2021, more than eighty full-length plays in Scarborough and London and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director of ...

), November 1978 *''

The Caucasian Chalk Circle ''The Caucasian Chalk Circle'' (german: Der kaukasische Kreidekreis) is a play by the German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. An example of Brecht's epic theatre, the play is a parable about a peasant girl who rescues a baby and becomes a b ...

'' (

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

), January 1979 *''Doctor Knock'' (

Jules Romains Jules Romains (born Louis Henri Jean Farigoule; 26 August 1885 – 14 August 1972) was a French poet and writer and the founder of the Unanimism literary movement. His works include the play '' Knock ou le Triomphe de la médecine'', and a cycle ...

Harley Granville Barker Harley Granville-Barker (25 November 1877 – 31 August 1946) was an English actor, director, playwright, manager, critic, and theorist. After early success as an actor in the plays of George Bernard Shaw, he increasingly turned to directi ...

), March 1979 *'' The Primary English Class'' (

Israel Horovitz Israel Horovitz (March 31, 1939 – November 9, 2020) was an American playwright, director, actor and co-founder of the Gloucester Stage Company in 1979. He served as artistic director until 2006 and later served on the board, ex officio an ...

), November 1979 *''

The Way of the World ''The Way of the World'' is a play written by the English playwright William Congreve. It premiered in early March 1700 in the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields in London. It is widely regarded as one of the best Restoration comedies and is stil ...

'' ( Congreve), February 1980 *''The Happy Haven'' (

John Arden John Arden (26 October 1930 – 28 March 2012) was an English playwright who at his death was lauded as "one of the most significant British playwrights of the late 1950s and early 60s". Career Born in Barnsley, son of the manager of a glass f ...

), March 1980 *''

Uncle Vanya ''Uncle Vanya'' ( rus, Дя́дя Ва́ня, r=Dyádya Ványa, p=ˈdʲædʲə ˈvanʲə) is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1898, and was first produced in 1899 by the Moscow Art Theatre under the dir ...

'' (

Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

), February 1981 *''Best Friends'' (Olwen Wymark), March 1981 *''Fall'' (James Saunders), November 1981 *''

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane an ...

'' (

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

,) January 1982 *''Winter'' (

David Mowat David John Mowat (born 20 February 1957) is a former Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Warrington South, and was first elected at the 2010 general election. He was appointed as Pa ...

), September 1983 *''Nothing to Declare'' (James Saunders), November 1983 *''

The Man of Mode ''The Man of Mode, or, Sir Fopling Flutter'' is a Restoration comedy by George Etherege, written in 1676. The play is set in Restoration London and follows the womanizer Dorimant as he tries to win over the young heiress Harriet and to diseng ...

'' (

Etherege Sir George Etherege (c. 1636, Maidenhead, Berkshire – c. 10 May 1692, Paris) was an English dramatist. He wrote the plays '' The Comical Revenge or, Love in a Tub'' in 1664, '' She Would If She Could'' in 1668, and '' The Man of Mode o ...

), January 1984 *''

The Power of Darkness ''The Power of Darkness'' (russian: Власть тьмы, Vlast′ t′my) is a five- act drama by Leo Tolstoy. Written in 1886, the play's production was forbidden in Russia until 1902, mainly through the influence of Konstantin Pobedonostsev. I ...

'' (

Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

/Anthony Clark), March 1984 *'' Four Attempted Acts (Martin Crimp), 1984 *''The Dark River'' (

Rodney Ackland Rodney Ackland (18 May 1908 in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex – 6 December 1991 in Richmond upon Thames, Surrey) was an English playwright, actor, theatre director and screenwriter. Born as Norman Ackland Bernstein in Southend, Essex, to a Jewish fat ...

), September 1984 *'' Hard Times'' (

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

/ Stephen Jeffreys), November 1984 *''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'':

First Quarto The earliest texts of William Shakespeare's works were published during the 16th and 17th centuries in quarto or folio format. Folios are large, tall volumes; quartos are smaller, roughly half the size. The publications of the latter are usually a ...

version (Shakespeare), March 1985 *''Revisiting the Alchemist'' (Charles Jennings), October 1985 *''A Variety of Death-Defying Acts'' (

Martin Crimp Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Aust ...

),December 1985 *''A Journey to London'' (

Vanbrugh Sir John Vanbrugh (; 24 January 1664 (baptised) – 26 March 1726) was an English architect, dramatist and herald, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He wrote two argumentative and outspoken Restorat ...

/James Saunders), January 1986 *''Sauce for the Goose'' (''Le Dindon'',

Georges Feydeau Georges-Léon-Jules-Marie Feydeau (; 8 December 1862 – 5 June 1921) was a French playwright of the era known as the Belle Époque. He is remembered for his farces, written between 1886 and 1914. Feydeau was born in Paris to middle-class parent ...

,) February 1986 *''

Mother Courage Mother Courage (German ''Mutter Courage'') is a character from a Grimmelshausen novel ''Lebensbeschreibung der Ertzbetrügerin und Landstörtzerin Courasche'' (''The Runagate Courage'') dating from around 1670. The character had played a cameo r ...

'' (Bertolt Brecht), October 1986 *''Hans Kohlhaas'' (

Heinrich von Kleist Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist (18 October 177721 November 1811) was a German poet, dramatist, novelist, short story writer and journalist. His best known works are the theatre plays '' Das Käthchen von Heilbronn'', ''The Broken Jug'', ''Amph ...

/James Saunders), November 1986 *''Largo Desolato'' (Václav Havel/

Tom Stoppard Sir Tom Stoppard (born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and politi ...

), February 1987 *''A Smile on the End of the Line'' (

Michel Vinaver Michel Vinaver (born Michel Grinberg; 13 January 1927 – 1 May 2022) was a French writer and dramatist. He was born in Paris to parents who had emigrated from Russia. He was the manager of Gillette. He is the father of actress Anouk Grinberg ...

), March 1987 *''No More A-Roving'' (

John Whiting John Robert Whiting (15 November 1917 – 16 June 1963) was an English actor, dramatist and critic. Life and career Born in Salisbury, he was educated at Taunton School, "the particular hellish life which is the English public school" as he ...

), October 1987 *''Love's a Luxury'' (farce Guy Paxton and Edward V Hoile), December 1987 *''The Secret Life'' (Harley Granville Barker), January 1988 *'' Absolute Hell'' (Rodney Ackland), March 1988 *''

The Way to Keep Him ''The Way to Keep Him'' is a 1760 comedy play by the Irish writer Arthur Murphy. Originally three-acts in length, it premiered at the Drury Lane Theatre in a double bill with Murphy's ''The Desert Island''. Actor-manager David Garrick appeared ...

'' ( Arthur Murphy), September 1988 *''Dealing with Clair'' (Martin Crimp), October 1988 *''Situation Vacant'' (Michel Vinaver), March 1989 *''

Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme ''Le Bourgeois gentilhomme'' (, translated as ''The Bourgeois Gentleman'', ''The Middle-Class Aristocrat'', or ''The Would-Be Noble'') is a five-act ''comédie-ballet'' – a Play (theatre), play intermingled with music, dance and singing – wri ...

'' (

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...

), April 1989 *''Play with Repeats'' (Martin Crimp), October 1989 *''We, the Undersigned'' (

Alexander Gelman Alexander Gelman (born December 21, 1960), born: Aleksandr Simonovich Gelman (russian: Алекса́ндр Си́монович Ге́льман) is an American theater director and the current Producing Artistic Director of Organic Theater Comp ...

), November 1989 *''Redevelopment'' (Václav Havel), September 1990

New Orange Tree Theatre

*''All in the Wrong'' (Arthur Murphy), opening production in the new theatre, February 1991 *'' Nutmeg and Ginger'' (

Julian Slade Julian Penkivil Slade (28 May 1930 – 17 June 2006) was an English writer of musical theatre, best known for the show ''Salad Days'', which he wrote in six weeks in 1954, and which became the UK's longest-running show of the 1950s, with over ...

), June 1991 *''

Little Eyolf Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt * ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film *The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...

'' (

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

), October 1991 *''Cerceau'' ( Viktor Slavkin), Walters as a performer only, May 1992 *''Dark River'' revival (Rodney Ackland), March 1992 *''His Majesty'' (Harley Granville Barker) also Edinburgh Festival, September 1992 *''

The Dutch Courtesan ''The Dutch Courtesan'' is an early Jacobean stage play written by the dramatist and satirist John Marston circa 1604. It was performed by the Children of the Queen's Revels, one of the troupes of boy actors active at the time, in the Blac ...

'' ( John Marston) October 1992 *''

A Penny for a Song ''A Penny for a Song'' is a 1951 historical comedy play by the British writer John Whiting. In 1967 it was adapted into an opera of the same title by Richard Rodney Bennett, performed at Sadler's Wells. It premiered at Wimbledon Theatre before ...

'' (John Whiting), December 1992 *'' The Artifice'' (

Susannah Centlivre Susanna Centlivre (c. 1669 (baptised) – 1 December 1723), born Susanna Freeman and also known professionally as Susanna Carroll, was an English poet, actress, and "the most successful female playwright of the eighteenth century". Centlivre's " ...

), February 1993 *''Nice Dorothy'' (

David Cregan David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

), May 1993 *''A Penny for a Song'' (John Whiting) revival, July 1993 *''Doctor Knock'' (Jules Romains) revival, October 1994 *''

Flora the Red Menace ''Flora the Red Menace'' is a musical with a book by George Abbott and Robert Russell, music by John Kander, and lyrics by Fred Ebb. The original 1965 production starred Liza Minnelli in the title role in her Broadway debut, for which she won ...

'' (

Kander and Ebb Kander and Ebb were a highly successful American songwriting team consisting of composer John Kander (born March 18, 1927) and lyricist Fred Ebb (April 8, 1928 – September 11, 2004). Known primarily for their stage musicals, which include ''C ...

), December 1994 *''Portrait of a Woman'' (Michael Vinaver, translated by

Donald Watson Donald Watson (2 September 1910 – 16 November 2005) was an English animal rights advocate who co-founded The Vegan Society. Early life Watson was born in Mexborough, Yorkshire, the son of a headmaster in a mining community. As a child, Watso ...

), February 1995 *''The Memorandum'' (Václav Havel), March 1995 *''Retreat'' (James Saunders), May 1995 *''Flora the Red Menace'' (Kander and Ebb) revival, August 1995 *''The Maitlands'' (

Ronald Mackenzie Ronald Conrad MacKenzie (May 3, 1934 – October 29, 2020) was an American attorney and Republican politician who served in the Massachusetts Senate from 1967 to 1977. He resigned following his conviction for extortion, conspiracy, and other rel ...

), October 1995 *''

The Simpleton of the Unexpected Isles ''The Simpleton of the Unexpected Isles: A Vision of Judgement'' is a 1934 play by George Bernard Shaw. The play is a satirical allegory about an attempt to create a utopian society on a Polynesian island that has recently emerged from the sea. T ...

'' (

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

), December 1995 *''

The Good Woman of Setzuan ''The Good Person of Szechwan'' (german: Der gute Mensch von Sezuan, first translated less literally as ''The Good Man of Setzuan'') is a play written by the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht, in collaboration with Margarete Steffin and Ruth Berla ...

'' (Bertolt Brecht), February 1996 *''The Power of the Dog'' (Ellen Dryden), May 1996 *''What the Heart Feels'' (Stephen Bill), October 1996 *''Family Circles'' (Alan Ayckbourn), December 1996 *''Inheritors'' (

Susan Glaspell Susan Keating Glaspell (July 1, 1876 – July 28, 1948) was an American playwright, novelist, journalist and actress. With her husband George Cram Cook, she founded the Provincetown Players, the first modern American theatre company. First known ...

), February 1997 *''Family Circles (

), August 1997 *''Overboard'' (Michel Vinaver), October 1997 *''All in the Wrong'' (Arthur Murphy), revival December 1997 *''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'' (Shakespeare), February 1998 *''Sperm Wars'' (David Lewis), September 1998 *''Court in the Act'' (farce Hennequin and Veber), December 1998 *''The Way of the World'' (Congreve), March 1999 *''The Last Thrash'' (David Cregan), Walters as a performer only, April 1999 *''Winner Takes All'' (farce ''La main passe'' Feydau), January 2000 *''Hurting'' (David Lewis), March 2000 *''

Arms and the Man ''Arms and the Man'' is a comedy by George Bernard Shaw, whose title comes from the opening words of Virgil's ''Aeneid'', in Latin: ''Arma virumque cano'' ("Of arms and the man I sing"). The play was first produced on 21 April 1894 at the Aven ...

'' (George Bernard Shaw), September 2000 *''

The Daughter-in-Law ''The Daughter-in-Law'' is the first play by D. H. Lawrence, completed in January 1913. Lawrence described it as "neither a tragedy nor a comedy - just ordinary". It was neither staged nor published in his lifetime. The first stage production, ...

'' (

D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...

), February 2001 *''Clockwatching'' (

Torben Betts Torben Betts (born 10 February 1968, in Stamford, Lincolnshire) is an English playwright, screenwriter and actor. Betts attended the University of Liverpool, where he read English Literature and English Language, and originally trained to becom ...

), March 2001 *''Whispers Along the Patio'' (David Cregan) October 2001, also Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough *''

'' (Bertolt Brecht, with a new Prologue by James Saunders), November 2001 *''Have You Anything to Declare?'' (farce Hennequin and Veber), December 2001 *'' Three Sisters'' (Chekhov, translated by Carol Rocamora as ''The Three Sisters''), February 2002 *''Happy Birthday Dear Alice'' (Bernard Farrell), April 2002 *'' The Road to Ruin'' (

Thomas Holcroft Thomas Holcroft (10 December 174523 March 1809) was an English dramatist, miscellanist, poet and translator. He was sympathetic to the early ideas of the French Revolution and helped Thomas Paine to publish the first part of ''The Rights of Ma ...

), September 2002 *''Saints Day'' (John Whiting), October 2002 *''The Game Hunter''(''Monsieur Chasse'' farce, Feydeau, translated by

Richard Cottrell Richard Cottrell (born 15 August 1936) is an English theatre director. He has been the Director of the Cambridge Theatre Company and the Bristol Old Vic in England, and of the Nimrod Theatre in Sydney, Australia. He has also directed for the Ro ...

), April 2003 *''The Mob'' (John Galsworthy), September 2003 *''King Cromwell'' (Oliver Ford Davies), November 2003 *''Love's a Luxury'' (farce by Guy Paxton and Edward V Hoile), April 2004 *'' The Marrying of Ann Leete'' (Harvey Granville Barker), September 2004 *''Myth, Propaganda & Disaster in Nazi Germany & Contemporary America'' (Stephen Sewell), November 2004 *''Monkey's Uncle'' (David Lewis), October 2005 *''A Journey to London'' (Vanbrugh, completed by James Saunders), December 2005 *'' The Madras House'' (Harley Granville Barker), September 2006 *''

Major Barbara ''Major Barbara'' is a three-act English play by George Bernard Shaw, written and premiered in 1905 and first published in 1907. The story concerns an idealistic young woman, Barbara Undershaft, who is engaged in helping the poor as a Major in ...

'' (George Bernard Shaw), October 2006 *''

The Skin Game The Skin Game may refer to: * ''The Skin Game'' (play), a play by John Galsworthy * ''The Skin Game'' (1921 film), a 1921 Dutch film, based on the play * ''The Skin Game'' (1931 film), a 1931 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, also based on the ...

'' (John Galsworthy), March 2007 *''The Woman Hater'' (

Fanny Burney Frances Burney (13 June 1752 – 6 January 1840), also known as Fanny Burney and later Madame d'Arblay, was an English satirical novelist, diarist and playwright. In 1786–1790 she held the post as "Keeper of the Robes" to Charlotte of Mecklen ...

); December 2007 *'' Leaving'' (

), English language premiere, September 2008 *''Greenwash'' (David Lewis), February 2009 *''Factors Unforeseen'' (Michel Vinaver, translated by Catherine Crimp), May 2009 *''The Making of Moo'' (

Nigel Dennis Nigel Forbes Dennis (16 January 1912 – 19 July 1989) was an English writer, critic, playwright and magazine editor. Life Born at his grandfather's house in Surrey, England, Dennis was the son of Lt.-Col. Michael Frederic Beauchamp Dennis, DS ...

), November 2009 *''The Lady or the Tiger'' (Michael Richmond and Jeremy Paul, score by Nola York), January 2010 *''Once Bitten'' (farce by Alfred Hennequin and Alfred Dellacourt, translated and adapted by Reggie Oliver), January 2011 *''Reading Hebron'' (Jason Sherman), February 2011 *''The Conspirators'' (

), August 2011 *''Muswell Hill'' (

), February 2012 *''Yours for the Asking'' (Ana Diosdado), September 2012 *''Sauce for the Goose'' (

), December 2012 *''The Stepmother'' (Githa Sowerby), February 2013 *''Springs Eternal'' (Susan Glaspell), September 2013

Personal life

Sam Walters is married to actress-director Auriol Smith, whom he met while doing pantomime at

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

in 1962. They have two daughters: Dorcas Walters, who was principal dancer with

Birmingham Royal Ballet Birmingham Royal Ballet (BRB) is one of the five major ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside The Royal Ballet, the English National Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish Ballet. Founded as the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet, the company ...

and now works in arts administration, and Octavia Walters, formerly an actress, now a sports injury masseur.

References

Sources

*''Who's Who in the Theatre'', 17th edition, Volume 2: Playbills, ed Ian Herbert, Gale (1981) *''

Theatre Record ''Theatre Record'' is a periodical that reprints reviews, production photographs, and other information about the British theatre. Overview ''Theatre Record'' was founded in 1981 by Ian Herbert and has been published fortnightly since January 1 ...

'' and its annual Indexes *Orange Tree Theatre appeals brochure 1991 *Sam Walters' CVs in Orange Tree programmes

External links

Orange Tree Theatre website

Orange Tree history
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walters, Sam 1939 births Living people Alumni of Merton College, Oxford English theatre directors Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Felsted School People associated with Kingston University