Sam is an award-winning, prolific playwright and journalist, noted for his queer and political work. He has won the Bruce Mason Playwrighting Award, New Zealand’s most prestigious award for playwrighting, and his plays include Burn Her, Riding in Cars with (Mostly Straight) Boys and Wine Lips. These works and others have been performed across the country, winning multiple awards, including the Auckland Theatre Excellence Award for Outstanding Production for Burn Her. He holds the record for most plays shortlisted for the ADAM Award, at 11. As a journalist, he is the Staff Feature Writer at The Spinoff, covering topics as diverse as arts and culture, entertainment and politics.
During his residency, he will be developing a new work called All You Had Was Fun, an experimental naturalist play about friendship.