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Sam Yates

Director

Represented by:

Jessica Stewart

Sam Yates is an award-winning director working in theatre, film and television. He was named a Screen International Star of Tomorrow, a rising star in The Observer, and featured in GQ Magazine’s “Men of the next 25 years”. Yates has been described as “a major talent” in The Guardian newspaper and “a director of unusual flair” in The Observer.

Recent projects include the Olivier award-winning VANYA with Andrew Scott, feature debut MAGPIE starring Daisy Ridley, and upcoming BBC mini-series TOWARDS ZERO featuring Angelica Huston and Matthew Rhys.

Photo credit: Marc Brenner

Credits

FILM/TV
Date: 2024
Production (role):
MAGPIE (feature debut)
Company:
Werewolf Films / 55 Films
Project details:
Screenplay: Tom Bateman
Cast: Daisy Ridley, Shazad Latif, Matilda Lutz, Hiba Ahmed, Cherrelle Skeete, Pippa Bennett-Warner and Alistair Petrie
Producers: Kate Solomon, Daisy Ridley, Tom Bateman, Camilla Bray
Cinematographer: Laura Bellingham
Date: 2024
Production (role):
TOWARDS ZERO (TV Mini-Series)
Company:
Mammoth Screen / BBC
Project details:
Cast: Angelica Huston, Matthew Rhys, Clarke Peters, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Ella Lily Hyland, Mimi Keene, Anjana Vasan, Jack Farthing, Khalil Gharbia, Adam Hugill
Date: 2020
Production (role):
AGATHA AND THE CURSE OF ISHTAR (TV movie)
Company:
Channel 5 / Darlow Smithson Productions / Endemol Shine
Project details:
Cast: Lindsey Marshall, Jonah Hauer-King, Stanley Townsend, Crystal Clark
Date: 2016
Production (role):
THE HOPE ROOMS (short)
Company:
31Productions / Rather Good Films
Project details:
Cast: Ciarán Hinds, Andrew Scott, Agnieszka Grochowska
Date: 2016
Production (role):
LOVE’S LABOURS LOST (short)
Company:
The Globe Complete Walk / BBC iPlayer
Project details:
Cast: Gemma Arterton and David Dawson
Date: 2016
Production (role):
ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL (short)
Company:
The Globe Complete Walk / BBC iPlayer
Project details:
Cast: Ruth Wilson and Lindsay Duncan
Date: 2016
Production (role):
CYMBELINE (short)
Company:
The Globe Complete Walk / BBC iPlayer
Project details:
Cast: Hayley Atwell and Kevin Harvey
Date: 2016
Production (role):
EMERALDS and AULD WIVES (music videos)
Company:
Bear’s Den / MTV’s A-List
Project details:
Cast: Aoife Duffin, Joseph Marcell, Lisa Dwyer Hogg, Eleanor Matsuura
THEATRE
Date: 2025
Production (role):
VANYA (Off-Broadway)
Company:
Lucille Lortel, New York
Project details:
Cast: Andrew Scott
Writer: Simon Stephens, after Anton Chekhov
Creators: Andrew Scott, Simon Stephens, Rosanna Vize, Sam Yates

March 11 - May 4 2025
Date: 2024
Production (role):
VANYA (West End)
Company:
Duke of York's Theatre, West End
Project details:
Cast: Andrew Scott
Writer: Simon Stephens, after Anton Chekhov
Creators: Andrew Scott, Simon Stephens, Rosanna Vize, Sam Yates

* Olivier Award for Best Revival
* Best Revival at What’s On Stage Awards
* Evening Standard Award Best Actor Andrew Scott
* Best Actor Andrew Scott London Critics’ Circle Awards
Date: 2021
Production (role):
THE TWO CHARACTER PLAY
Company:
Hampstead Theatre
Project details:
By Tennessee Williams
Cast: Kate O’Flynn, Zubin Varla
Date: 2021
Production (role):
A SEPARATE PEACE
Company:
Platform Presents / Curtain Call
Project details:
By Tom Stoppard
Cast: David Morrisey, Jenna Coleman, Ed Stoppard, Denise Gough, Maggie Service

Performed via Zoom
Date: 2020
Production (role):
INCANTATA
Company:
Irish Rep, New York (2020) / The Gate, Dublin (2019) / Galway International Festival (2018)
Project details:
From the poem by Paul Muldoon
Cast: Stanley Townsend
Date: 2019
Production (role):
THE STARRY MESSENGER
Company:
Wyndhams Theatre, West End
Project details:
By Kenneth Lonergan
Cast: Matthew Broderick, Elizabeth McGovern, Rosalind Eleazar, Jim Norton
Date: 2019
Production (role):
COMPANY
Company:
Royal Academy of Music
Project details:
By Stephen Sondheim
Date: 2018/2019
Production (role):
THE PHLEBOTOMIST
Company:
Hampstead Theatre Downstairs (2018) transfer to Main Stage (2019)
Project details:
By Ella Road
Cast: Jade Anouka, Rory Fleck-Byrne, Vincent Ebrahim, Cherrelle Skeete

* Nominated for Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre.
Date: 2017/18
Production (role):
GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS
Company:
Playhouse Theatre, West End (2017-18) and No.1 UK Tour (2019)
Project details:
By David Mamet
Cast: Christian Slater, Robert Glenister, Kris Marshall, Don Warrington
Date: 2018
Production (role):
MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG
Company:
Royal Academy of Music
Project details:
By Stephen Sondheim
Date: 2017
Production (role):
DESIRE UNDER THE ELMS
Company:
Crucible Theatre, Sheffield
Project details:
By Eugene O’Neill
Cast: Aoife Duffin, Matthew Kelly, Theo Ogundipe, Sule Rimi, Michael Shea
Date: 2017
Production (role):
ASSASSINS
Company:
Royal Academy of Music
Project details:
By Stephen Sondheim
Date: 2016
Production (role):
MURDER BALLAD
Company:
Arts Theatre, West End
Project details:
By Julia Jordan & Juliana Nash
Cast: Victoria Hamilton Barritt, Kerry Ellis, Ramin Karimloo, Norman Bowman

*Nominated for 2017 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical
Date: 2015
Production (role):
CYMBELINE
Company:
Sam Wanamaker Theatre, Shakespeare’s Globe
Project details:
By William Shakespeare
Cast: Joseph Marcell, Pauline McLynn, Emily Barber, Jonjo O’Neill, Eugene O’Hare

*Ian Charleson Award commendation
Date: 2015
Production (role):
OUTSIDE MULLINGAR
Company:
Ustinov Theatre, Bath
Project details:
By John Patrick Shanley
Cast: James Hayes, Carol Macready, Owen McDonnell, Deirdre O’Kane
Date: 2014/15
Production (role):
EAST IS EAST
Company:
Jamie Lloyd Productions & ATG, West End / 2 UK Tours
Project details:
By Ayub Khan Din
Cast: Jane Horrocks, Pauline McLynn, Ayub Khan Din, Sally Banks, Amit Shah
Date: 2014
Production (role):
BILLY LIAR
Company:
Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
Project details:
By Keith Waterhouse
Cast: Harry McEntire, Jack Deam, Katie Moore, Rebeka Hinds, Emily Barber
*Winner Best Actor and Best Newcomer Manchester Theatre Awards 2015
Date: 2013
Production (role):
THE EL. TRAIN
Company:
Found and 31Productions / Hoxton Hall
Project details:
Three One-Act Plays by Eugene O’Neill
Cast: Ruth Wilson, Nicola Hughes, Zubin Varla, Sharon Duncan-Brewster
Date: 2012/13
Production (role):
CORNELIUS
Company:
Finborough Theatre (2012) / 59E59, New York (2013)
Project details:
By J.B. Priestley
Cast: Alan Cox, Beverley Klein, Col Farrell, Pandora Colin, Emily Barber

*Critics’ Pick New York Times, Nominated Four Off West End Awards
Date: 2011
Production (role):
MIXED MARRIAGE
Company:
31Productions, Finborough Theatre, London
Project details:
By St John Ervine
Cast: Nora-Jane Noone, Daragh O’Malley, Fiona Victory, Christopher Brandon
Date: 2006
Production (role):
PURGATORY
Company:
Edinburgh Fringe
Project details:
By W.B. Yeats
Date: 2005
Production (role):
MACBETH: THE HOUR
Company:
Edinburgh Fringe
RADIO
Date: 2019
Production (role):
THE PHLEBOTOMIST
Company:
BBC Radio 3
Project details:
By Ella Road
Cast: Jade Anouka, Kiza Deen, Rory Fleck Byrne, Mark Lambert
Date: 2016
Production (role):
ECCO
Project details:
By Chris Harrald, BBC Radio 4
Cast: Hayley Atwell, Pauline McLynn, Joseph Marcell, Sid Sagar, John Macmillan
IN DEVELOPMENT
Date: 2023
Production (role):
UNTITLED MOTHER/DAUGHTER (feature)
Company:
Agile Films
Project details:
Screenplay by Lulu Razcka
Date: 2023
Production (role):
JOHNNY
Company:
Wessex Grove
Project details:
By Simon Stephens

Credits

  • Date
    Production (role)
    Company
    Project details
  • Date: 2024
    Production (role): MAGPIE (feature debut)
    Company: Werewolf Films / 55 Films
    Project details: Screenplay: Tom Bateman
    Cast: Daisy Ridley, Shazad Latif, Matilda Lutz, Hiba Ahmed, Cherrelle Skeete, Pippa Bennett-Warner and Alistair Petrie
    Producers: Kate Solomon, Daisy Ridley, Tom Bateman, Camilla Bray
    Cinematographer: Laura Bellingham
  • Date: 2024
    Production (role): TOWARDS ZERO (TV Mini-Series)
    Company: Mammoth Screen / BBC
    Project details: Cast: Angelica Huston, Matthew Rhys, Clarke Peters, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Ella Lily Hyland, Mimi Keene, Anjana Vasan, Jack Farthing, Khalil Gharbia, Adam Hugill
  • Date: 2020
    Production (role): AGATHA AND THE CURSE OF ISHTAR (TV movie)
    Company: Channel 5 / Darlow Smithson Productions / Endemol Shine
    Project details: Cast: Lindsey Marshall, Jonah Hauer-King, Stanley Townsend, Crystal Clark
  • Date: 2016
    Production (role): THE HOPE ROOMS (short)
    Company: 31Productions / Rather Good Films
    Project details: Cast: Ciarán Hinds, Andrew Scott, Agnieszka Grochowska
  • Date: 2016
    Production (role): LOVE’S LABOURS LOST (short)
    Company: The Globe Complete Walk / BBC iPlayer
    Project details: Cast: Gemma Arterton and David Dawson
  • Date: 2016
    Production (role): ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL (short)
    Company: The Globe Complete Walk / BBC iPlayer
    Project details: Cast: Ruth Wilson and Lindsay Duncan
  • Date: 2016
    Production (role): CYMBELINE (short)
    Company: The Globe Complete Walk / BBC iPlayer
    Project details: Cast: Hayley Atwell and Kevin Harvey
  • Date: 2016
    Production (role): EMERALDS and AULD WIVES (music videos)
    Company: Bear’s Den / MTV’s A-List
    Project details: Cast: Aoife Duffin, Joseph Marcell, Lisa Dwyer Hogg, Eleanor Matsuura
  • Date
    Production (role)
    Company
    Project details
  • Date: 2025
    Production (role): VANYA (Off-Broadway)
    Company: Lucille Lortel, New York
    Project details: Cast: Andrew Scott
    Writer: Simon Stephens, after Anton Chekhov
    Creators: Andrew Scott, Simon Stephens, Rosanna Vize, Sam Yates

    March 11 - May 4 2025
  • Date: 2024
    Production (role): VANYA (West End)
    Company: Duke of York's Theatre, West End
    Project details: Cast: Andrew Scott
    Writer: Simon Stephens, after Anton Chekhov
    Creators: Andrew Scott, Simon Stephens, Rosanna Vize, Sam Yates

    * Olivier Award for Best Revival
    * Best Revival at What’s On Stage Awards
    * Evening Standard Award Best Actor Andrew Scott
    * Best Actor Andrew Scott London Critics’ Circle Awards
  • Date: 2021
    Production (role): THE TWO CHARACTER PLAY
    Company: Hampstead Theatre
    Project details: By Tennessee Williams
    Cast: Kate O’Flynn, Zubin Varla
  • Date: 2021
    Production (role): A SEPARATE PEACE
    Company: Platform Presents / Curtain Call
    Project details: By Tom Stoppard
    Cast: David Morrisey, Jenna Coleman, Ed Stoppard, Denise Gough, Maggie Service

    Performed via Zoom
  • Date: 2020
    Production (role): INCANTATA
    Company: Irish Rep, New York (2020) / The Gate, Dublin (2019) / Galway International Festival (2018)
    Project details: From the poem by Paul Muldoon
    Cast: Stanley Townsend
  • Date: 2019
    Production (role): THE STARRY MESSENGER
    Company: Wyndhams Theatre, West End
    Project details: By Kenneth Lonergan
    Cast: Matthew Broderick, Elizabeth McGovern, Rosalind Eleazar, Jim Norton
  • Date: 2019
    Production (role): COMPANY
    Company: Royal Academy of Music
    Project details: By Stephen Sondheim
  • Date: 2018/2019
    Production (role): THE PHLEBOTOMIST
    Company: Hampstead Theatre Downstairs (2018) transfer to Main Stage (2019)
    Project details: By Ella Road
    Cast: Jade Anouka, Rory Fleck-Byrne, Vincent Ebrahim, Cherrelle Skeete

    * Nominated for Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre.
  • Date: 2017/18
    Production (role): GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS
    Company: Playhouse Theatre, West End (2017-18) and No.1 UK Tour (2019)
    Project details: By David Mamet
    Cast: Christian Slater, Robert Glenister, Kris Marshall, Don Warrington
  • Date: 2018
    Production (role): MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG
    Company: Royal Academy of Music
    Project details: By Stephen Sondheim
  • Date: 2017
    Production (role): DESIRE UNDER THE ELMS
    Company: Crucible Theatre, Sheffield
    Project details: By Eugene O’Neill
    Cast: Aoife Duffin, Matthew Kelly, Theo Ogundipe, Sule Rimi, Michael Shea
  • Date: 2017
    Production (role): ASSASSINS
    Company: Royal Academy of Music
    Project details: By Stephen Sondheim
  • Date: 2016
    Production (role): MURDER BALLAD
    Company: Arts Theatre, West End
    Project details: By Julia Jordan & Juliana Nash
    Cast: Victoria Hamilton Barritt, Kerry Ellis, Ramin Karimloo, Norman Bowman

    *Nominated for 2017 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical
  • Date: 2015
    Production (role): CYMBELINE
    Company: Sam Wanamaker Theatre, Shakespeare’s Globe
    Project details: By William Shakespeare
    Cast: Joseph Marcell, Pauline McLynn, Emily Barber, Jonjo O’Neill, Eugene O’Hare

    *Ian Charleson Award commendation
  • Date: 2015
    Production (role): OUTSIDE MULLINGAR
    Company: Ustinov Theatre, Bath
    Project details: By John Patrick Shanley
    Cast: James Hayes, Carol Macready, Owen McDonnell, Deirdre O’Kane
  • Date: 2014/15
    Production (role): EAST IS EAST
    Company: Jamie Lloyd Productions & ATG, West End / 2 UK Tours
    Project details: By Ayub Khan Din
    Cast: Jane Horrocks, Pauline McLynn, Ayub Khan Din, Sally Banks, Amit Shah
  • Date: 2014
    Production (role): BILLY LIAR
    Company: Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
    Project details: By Keith Waterhouse
    Cast: Harry McEntire, Jack Deam, Katie Moore, Rebeka Hinds, Emily Barber
    *Winner Best Actor and Best Newcomer Manchester Theatre Awards 2015
  • Date: 2013
    Production (role): THE EL. TRAIN
    Company: Found and 31Productions / Hoxton Hall
    Project details: Three One-Act Plays by Eugene O’Neill
    Cast: Ruth Wilson, Nicola Hughes, Zubin Varla, Sharon Duncan-Brewster
  • Date: 2012/13
    Production (role): CORNELIUS
    Company: Finborough Theatre (2012) / 59E59, New York (2013)
    Project details: By J.B. Priestley
    Cast: Alan Cox, Beverley Klein, Col Farrell, Pandora Colin, Emily Barber

    *Critics’ Pick New York Times, Nominated Four Off West End Awards
  • Date: 2011
    Production (role): MIXED MARRIAGE
    Company: 31Productions, Finborough Theatre, London
    Project details: By St John Ervine
    Cast: Nora-Jane Noone, Daragh O’Malley, Fiona Victory, Christopher Brandon
  • Date: 2006
    Production (role): PURGATORY
    Company: Edinburgh Fringe
    Project details: By W.B. Yeats
  • Date: 2005
    Production (role): MACBETH: THE HOUR
    Company: Edinburgh Fringe
    Project details:
  • Date
    Production (role)
    Company
    Project details
  • Date: 2019
    Production (role): THE PHLEBOTOMIST
    Company: BBC Radio 3
    Project details: By Ella Road
    Cast: Jade Anouka, Kiza Deen, Rory Fleck Byrne, Mark Lambert
  • Date: 2016
    Production (role): ECCO
    Company:
    Project details: By Chris Harrald, BBC Radio 4
    Cast: Hayley Atwell, Pauline McLynn, Joseph Marcell, Sid Sagar, John Macmillan
  • Date
    Production (role)
    Company
    Project details
  • Date: 2023
    Production (role): UNTITLED MOTHER/DAUGHTER (feature)
    Company: Agile Films
    Project details: Screenplay by Lulu Razcka
  • Date: 2023
    Production (role): JOHNNY
    Company: Wessex Grove
    Project details: By Simon Stephens
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