I am a theatre director specialising in embodied action, connection and complicité between audience and performer.
I run a generous collaborative room in which actors and fellow creatives have a strong sense of agency resulting in physical, truthful and visceral work. Following a lengthy career as a leading theatre actor (including National, Gate, Hampstead, Royal Court) in 2007 I pivoted to writing and directing.
In August 2024 building on extant work as a freelance director I completed a master’s at Birkbeck graduating with distinction and winning the Peter Cheeseman Award for exceptional development and outstanding achievement as a theatre director. In December 2024 I co-founded Hinterland Theatre with writer Kate Scott and performer Lehla Eldridge to provide a platform and re-entry point into the theatre industry for female identifying creatives in the mid phase of their lives, and went on to produce three Hinterland productions in 2025: Eat (The Lyric Theatre, Bridport), Justine Stops Oil (The Glitch Theatre, London) and Am I Losing My Mind Or Just My Figure? (The Etcetera Theatre & Coronet Notting Hill, London co-produced with Untethered).
I will be directing three new shows in 2026 (Four Plays in May (Repertory Season across Wales), Iron (HOME Theatre Manchester and The Dukes Theatre Lancaster) and Detritus (Bloomsbury Festival) and remounting three shows from 2025 (Am I Losing My Mind Or Just My Figure? (Camden Peoples Theatre SPRINT Festival, London & Edinburgh), Justine Stops Oil and Eat. I will also be working with a young company at The Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester to co-develop a response to Jim Cartwright’s play Road and creating ensemble with a newly formed adult company at The Arts Centre in Salisbury for Wiltshire Creative.
Awarded an Offies Assessors’ Choice ★★★★★ recommendation and a London Pub Theatres ★★★★★ Standing Ovation nomination (director & writer) for my 2025 revival of Am I Losing My Mind Or Just My Figure? with collaborator and co-writer Genevieve Labuschagne (Untethered + Hinterland).
★★★★★ London Pub Theatres “[Holland-Bunyan] resists the temptation to dwell solely in the heavy or sombre, instead weaving humour and warmth throughout. Her gaze on the character, and by extension the world, is tender, perceptive, and deeply humane. Her ability to find weight in the small, while carefully balancing tone, image, and rhythm, reveals both her artistry and attention to detail.
★★★★ Everything Theatre “It feels as though every word is intentional; not in a clinical way – quite the opposite, actually. The text is unpretentious and sincere.”
★★★★ Theatre To See London “An essential commentary on the modern female experience. An inspiring testament to resilience. A profound, hilarious, and ultimately uplifting embrace.”
“Sam creates a safe and nurturing environment in which to ‘play’ and explore, leading to greater depth in the work and a deeply satisfying experience for an artist. Her understanding and unique insight into the human condition provokes actors to ask difficult questions and push boundaries”. Gemma Ryan ‘Romeo & Juliet’ and ‘First Love’ Manchester Royal Exchange Theatre 2023.
“As an artist I am interested in taking uncomfortable messy truths and serving them up through the medium of theatre and visual art. I want to give air to them and encourage them to take up space. I want to ask the viewer to collectively bear witness to the human condition in all its frailty and as a result to feel more human and alive. A muscle disorder has helped me to be ergonomic with the approach I take to my work and enabled me to take time to observe and develop my critical eye.”
Heavily influenced by the teaching of Chattie Salaman, an inspirational teacher at The Guildhall School of Music & Drama (training 1988 and 1991) my work seeks to interrogate the human condition through the mediums of theatre and visual art, focusing on stories that exist in the hinterland and margins of society, devising new work and reworking classic texts that resonate with a contemporary and changing audience.
My process aligns the philosophy of a ‘poorer’ theatre with Stanislavski’s active analysis and encourages the actor to tune into their physicality and imagination to create a story through an irreverent and playful lens. My training (Birkbeck MFA Theatre Directing | Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester) has further developed my practice. As an actor I was taught by Vasily Skorik and Nikolai Karpov (Maly Theatre) and Patsy Rodenburg (Shakespeare). I have worked alongside leading Theatre Directors, Makers and Practitioners as an Assistant Director whilst continuing to make my own work as a Theatre Director/Theatre Maker and Visual Artist.
Awards
2025 Offies Assessors’ Choice for ‘Am I Losing My Mind Or Just My Figure?’
2024 Peter Cheeseman Award for Outstanding Achievement and Exceptional Development as a Theatre Director (Birkbeck University of London)
2001 Pick of Pleasance Award for solo show ‘Am I Losing My Mind or Just My Figure?’ (transfer from Edinburgh to London)
Nominations
2025 London Pub Theatres Standing Ovation Award Finalist for ‘Am I Losing My Mind or Just My Figure?’
Training
Manchester Royal Exchange Resident Assistant Director & Resident Director within the Engagement Team 2023-24. Assistant Director | Romeo & Juliet (Autumn/Winter 23). Collaborator | Manchester – A City for Life. Assistant Director | Liberation R&D, Workshop Leader | Spinning Tales. Director | Takeover. Assistant Director | Intergen Comedy Project (Winter 23/24. Assistant Director | A Midsummer Night’s Dream R&D. Assistant Director | A Taste of Honey (Winter/Spring 24). Director \ Co-Director | An Evening of New Work with Simon Stephens & Carmen Nasr. Director | First Love – Samuel Beckett Adaptation R&D (Spring/Summer 24).
Birkbeck, University of London MFA Theatre Directing 2022-24. ‘The Director & The Actor’ workshops led by Mike Alfreds, Mike Leigh, Jude Christian, Atri Banerjee | ‘The Director & The Designer’ workshops led by Vicki Mortimer, Natalie Abrahami, Michael Vale (UAL Wimbledon College of Arts) | ‘The Director & The Writer’ workshops led by Lyndsey Turner, Sam Pritchard | ‘Playwriting’ led by David Eldridge
Bristol Old Vic, JMK Trust 2023 ‘Concept and Vision in Theatre Making’ led by Polina Kalinina.
Bristol Old Vic, JMK Trust 2023 ‘The Ensemble Process’ led by Sally Cookson.
Guildhall School of Music & Drama (Professional Actor Diploma | BA Equivalent) 1991.
SAM HOLLAND-BUNYAN 