Sam Max

Sam Max (b. 1995, Pennsylvania) is a playwright, director, and producer whose work is known for centering queer characters in “poetic spaces where death and dreams converge, making otherworldly encounters possible" (Suhrkamp). They are a recipient of the 2021 Lotos Foundation Prize in the Arts and Sciences, a winner of the 2019 Chesley-Bumbalo Playwriting Award, a proud member of the New Dramatists class of 2029, and a playwright of Suhrkamp Theater Verlag publishing house in Berlin, where their work is published in translation. After an independent run under Sam’s direction, Sam's play Coop was selected for the 2020/2021 Theatertreffen-Stückemarkt in Berlin, and is currently being workshopped in a premiere Mandarin translation by Goethe-Institut China and Inside-Out Theatre in Beijing. Sam’s other works for stage include Pidor and the Wolf (Winner, Cutting Ball Theater’s Variety Pack; Finalist, O’Neill National Playwrights Conference; Honorable Mention, The Relentless Award), and their performance art concert Twin Size Beds which premiered at Under the Radar Festival in 2018. Sam has developed their work as a member of The Public's Devised Theater Working Group and Pipeline Theatre Company’s PlayLab Writers Group. They've also received residencies and additional support from National Sawdust, The Mastheads, the Hermitage Artists Retreat, and the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. In 2018 Sam was named a member of the Young & Hungry List, tracking “Hollywood’s Top 100 New Writers.” Their first short film, Chaperone, stars Russell Kahn and Zachary Quinto under Sam’s direction, and Sam is currently working on their debut feature projects. Sam is a graduate of the University of Evansville’s Theatre program, holding a degree in Theatre Performance and a minor in Social Ethics, summa cum laude.