Sam Gold

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Sam Gold is an American theater director and actor. He was born in New York City and grew up in Westchester. He studied English at Cornell University and trained in directing at the Juilliard School. He is married to playwright Amy Herzog, and they have two children; their elder daughter Frances died in 2023.

Gold is known for directing both musicals and plays on Broadway and Off-Broadway. He made his Broadway debut with Seminar in 2011, followed by Picnic (2013), The Realistic Joneses (2014), and The Real Thing (2015). His production of Fun Home on Broadway in 2015 earned him the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical and brought him wider recognition. He has also directed other big shows, including The Glass Menagerie (2017), A Doll’s House, Part 2 (2017), King Lear (2019), and Macbeth (2022).

He serves as the Resident Director at Roundabout Theatre Company. Off-Broadway and regional work have been a major part of his career. He started directing at New York Theatre Workshop with The Black Eyed in 2007 and won the Lucille Lortel Award for The Big Meal in 2012. He has directed several plays by Annie Baker: Circle Mirror Transformation (2009), The Aliens (2010), Uncle Vanya (2012), The Flick (2013), and John (2015). He won the Obie Award for Directing for Circle Mirror Transformation in 2010 and received a 2016 Special Citation Obie for collaboration with Baker and the design team. He also directed The Flick in London at the National Theatre in 2016 and Look Back in Anger for Roundabout in 2012.

Gold has worked on a variety of projects beyond traditional theater, including a staged concert of The Cradle Will Rock for Encores! Off-Center in 2013. He directed Othello at NYTW in 2016-2017. He was set to direct a Three Sisters adaptation, but it was paused due to the pandemic. In 2023, it was announced that he would return to Broadway to direct Amy Herzog’s adaptation of An Enemy of the People, starring Jeremy Strong. He is also involved in a FX comedy called Compliance. In 2024, it was revealed that he would direct a new Broadway adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, starring Rachel Zegler and Kit Connor, with music by Jack Antonoff, planned for fall 2024.

Gold’s approach emphasizes ensemble work; he often says he puts pressure on the cast to carry the show, with minimal flashy staging. He has been praised for his observant directing and his ability to work with both new writers and established actors. He is Jewish.