Samantha Jane Scott is a New Zealand theatre and television director. She established the Maidment Youth Theatre (now

Massive Theatre Company Massive Theatre Company, also called Massive or Massive Company, is a professional theatre company in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand. Founded by Artistic Director Samantha Scott MNZM in 1990, the Maidment Youth Theatre at the University of A ...

) in 1991. In 2013 Scott was appointed a Member of the

New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for th ...

for services to theatre.

Early life and education

Scott grew up in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, and attended

Westlake Girls High School Westlake Girls High School () is a state girls secondary school, located to the west of Lake Pupuke in Takapuna, Auckland, New Zealand. The school was established in 1957 as a coeducational school, changing to girls only in 1962 when Westlake B ...

. Her great-grandmother was feminist and activist

Miriam Soljak Miriam Bridelia Soljak (; 15 June 1879 – 28 March 1971) was a pioneering New Zealand Feminism, feminist, Communism, communist, unemployed rights activist and supporter of family planning efforts. Born in Thames, New Zealand, she was raised as ...

. Her grandmother, Miriam's daughter, was trade unionist and anti-abortion campaigner

Connie Purdue Constance Miriam Purdue (née Soljak, 23 May 1912 – 16 March 2000) was a New Zealand trade unionist. Formerly a communist and a New Zealand Labour Party, Labour Party member, she later became a conservative Catholic and an anti-abortion acti ...

. Scott's parents were involved in theatre, and her mother in local politics too, and as a teenager Scott joined Auckland Youth Theatre, run by Mark Wright, Alison Wall, Christian Penny and Anna Marbrook. While at school Scott had an exchange visit to

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

, Pennsylvania. She also trained at Ecole Philippe Gaulier in London.

Career

Scott worked as director at Northland Youth Theatre before co-founding Maidment Youth Theatre in 1991. She was the artistic director at Maidment until 1997, when she founded Aotearoa Young People's Theatre. The Maidment Youth Theatre was originally for actors under 25, but transformed in Massive Theatre Company when actors started asking how to stay involved when they passed that age. Scott took the cast of Massive's production of ''The Sons of Charlie Paora'' to London and Paris. They were the first New Zealand company on stage at London's

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...

. Massive Theatre Company celebrated its thirtieth anniversary in 2021. Scott set up a mentorship programme called The Directors’ Lab in 2015. Scott has directed for television and film, and was director of the soap opera ''

Shortland Street ''Shortland Street'' is a New Zealand Prime time, prime-time soap opera centring on the fictitious Shortland Street Hospital. The show was first broadcast on TVNZ 2 on 25 May 1992 and is New Zealand's longest-running drama and soap opera, be ...

'' for ten years, beginning in the late 1990s. She also directed an award-winning short film, ''His Father’s Shoes'', released in 2004.

Honours and awards

Scott won the NEXT Woman of the Year: Arts & Culture award in 2019. In the 2013 Queen's Birthday Honours she was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to theatre.

Personal life

Scott's partner is actor and drama teacher Robert Pollock.

References

External links

*
Sam Scott talking about ITAC7, the International Teaching Artist conference, an event held in September 2024
', via YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Samantha Date of birth missing (living people) Living people New Zealand actors New Zealand theatre directors People from Auckland New Zealand television directors People educated at Westlake Girls High School Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit