Where It All Began
Sammi is apart of a family with two sets of twins. She was raised to be bold, to trust her instincts, and to include others. When she was young her parents tried to get her into sports: a tragic attempt. Then her mom signed her up for a youth theatre company “to get all her energy out.” She found where she belonged. Since the age of 8, she has spent her days in the theatre telling stories. She loved how people would come to listen to lessons and characters in an intentional place. It seemed to affect them. She soon found that this is where she could make a difference.
Where She Wants To Go.
Sammi Gainer is an actor and playwright. She has a BFA in Theatre Performance from Belmont University and has received additional training from The Barrow Group Theatre, as she is currently based in New York. During her time at school, she has been involved in both regional and educational theatre. She got to find her individual voice in devised ensemble work, scriptwriting classes, dance composition, and training with Frantic Assembly.
What has she been up to? Spill the tea, girl!
She made her NYC Debut with Housemade Jeans Productions in Jenny Weiner’s “Horse Girls” where she played Tiffany in January 2023. In May of 2023, she performed at Alvin Ailey Studio Theater: A TYA production, with Treehouse Shakers Children’s Theater, “The Littlest Cove.” She just finished her first Off-Broadway contract with Drunk Shakespeare at at the Ruby Theater in midtown! As a playwright, she is also eager to begin producing her original work, co-written with Ndanu Mutisya, “Sorry! We’re Closed!” (a play about her experience as a server in the city) that will premiere at the New York Theater Festival this summer. Lastly, she just completed Frantic Assembly’s competitive “CREATE” program in January 2024 where she learned how to direct and perform using their techniques in physical theater. A lot is happening and she is doing her best to stay present in gratitude and silliness.
Sammi has a determined passion for civil rights. She wants to use her training to not only tell stories that will challenge society, but to also allow others to tell their stories. She believes that by proper representation, our society will begin to not only empathize but act upon what they see. The theatre can be a place for both play and change.
Sammi specializes in movement. With some of her favorite techniques stemming from those of Chekov, Anne Bogart, Frantic Assembly, Laban, and Jacques Lecoq, she enjoys meeting her characters “outside-in.” She also loves to take Twyla Tharp and Doris Humphrey’s artistic approach to choreography. Telling stories without the voice and just with the imagination and body is an exciting limitation that paves the way for an art form that anyone can understand. Sammi finds movement both unifying and inclusive.
