Samantha Kaufman
Intimacy Director | Fight Director | Teacher | Actor
Samantha Kaufman (she/her/hers) is a Chicago-based actor, fight director, intimacy director, movement director, and teaching artist working across theatre, film, and opera in the U.S. and internationally. She is a certified Intimacy Director and teaching artist with Intimacy Directors and Coordinators (IDC), a certified teacher, fight director, and theatrical firearms safety instructor with the Society of American Fight Directors (SAFD), and a certified Michael Chekhov Technique teacher.
Her work has been seen with organizations including Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Guthrie Theatre, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Houston Grand Opera, Prague Shakespeare Company, among others.
Samantha was nominated for a Jeff Award for Fight Direction for The Lady Demands Satisfaction and received a Regional Broadway award for Best Actress for her performance as Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet. She holds an MFA from Florida Atlantic University and a BFA from the University of Wyoming.
Read more about Samantha in this Bold Journey article.
Read more about Samantha in this Canvas Rebel article.
Her work has been seen with organizations including Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Guthrie Theatre, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Houston Grand Opera, Prague Shakespeare Company, among others.
Samantha was nominated for a Jeff Award for Fight Direction for The Lady Demands Satisfaction and received a Regional Broadway award for Best Actress for her performance as Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet. She holds an MFA from Florida Atlantic University and a BFA from the University of Wyoming.
Read more about Samantha in this Bold Journey article.
Read more about Samantha in this Canvas Rebel article.
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"Sam is a joy to be around and always has a crucial insight or perspective that can turn the world on its head. She is unassumingly wise, sassy, clever, open, compassionate, and knowledgeable. Her organization and leadership skills are impeccable. I will be taking any opportunity I can to work with her again, be it in the classroom or the rehearsal space."
- Firen Williams
"Sam is a joy to be around and always has a crucial insight or perspective that can turn the world on its head. She is unassumingly wise, sassy, clever, open, compassionate, and knowledgeable. Her organization and leadership skills are impeccable. I will be taking any opportunity I can to work with her again, be it in the classroom or the rehearsal space."
- Firen Williams