Ria Samartzi

I am UK based director, dramaturg and performance maker from Greece. I look for strangeness in the familiar and the epic in the everyday. My background is in movement, developing new work and collaborative practice. I have trained in Physical Theatre at East 15 Acting School, on the SITI Company Conservatory and in the Six Viewpoints theory and practice with Mary Overlie, which I also teach. I am an associate artist with Foreign Affairs Theatre.

Pronouns: She/Her

Credits

DIRECTOR:

Black Swans by Christina Kettering, translated by Pauline Wick, Omnibus Theatre, 3 weeks, 2024
Foreign Affairs Showcase of playwriting from Flanders, Soho Theatre Downstairs, staged reading, 2022
Bagdaddy, research and development week, 2021
Unterstadt - The Story of an Osijek Family, Rose Lipman Building, staged reading, 2019
GRITO (excerpt), Arcola, one-off performance, 2018
The Myth Marathon, The Village Hall, 2 performances, 2018
Mercury, The White Bear, one-off performance, 2018
Love & Friendship, Omnibus, work in progress, 2017
The Call, The White Bear, 3 weeks, 2016
Conviction, Above the Arts, 1 week, 2016
The House of Cards, The Albany Red Studio, one-off performance, 2016

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR:

DUAL دوگانه, Pleasance Edinburgh Fringe/Camden People's Theatre/Home Manchester, 3 + weeks, 2023

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR:

The Blind One and the Mad One, Rose Lipman Building, 3 performances, 2018
Spring Offensive, Omnibus, 2 weeks, 2017
A Secret Life, Theatre 503, 1 week, 2016

DRAMATURGY & OTHER:

Production dramaturg, The Wetsuitman, Rose Lipman Building, two weeks, 2022 & Arcola Studio, 1 week, 2023
Six Viewpoints workshop leader, various 2018 - present
Dramaturg, Bourne, VAULT Festival, work in progress, 2020
Dramaturg, Dinner Means Dinner and Other Popular Sayings..., Rose Lipman Building, work in progress, 2018
Creative Collaborator, The Brownie Club, Jackson's Lane, 2018
Creator / Performer, In Event of Moon Disaster, Camden People's Theatre 2015

Training

Guildhall School of Music & Drama, PG Cert in Performance Teaching, 2023/2024
The Six Viewpoints Institute, Facilitated Research, 2023
Somatic Performer, The Inner Viewpoints, 2023
Story for Script Development, John Yorke, 2021
Six Viewpoints with Marie Overlie, Rose Bruford 2017 & Vertico Residency Spain 2019
Springboard, Young Vic Directors Program, 2017
Stonecrabs Young Directors Training Program 2015/2016
SITI Company Conservatory 2014/2015
The Role of the Director in the Devising Process, Told by an Idiot, 2011
BA in Physical Theatre, East 15 Acting School 2007/2010