Sam Brooks | The Spinoff

Sam Brooks

Sam Brooks is a playwright and journalist who currently freelances and writes his own arts and culture newsletter Dramatic Pause.

Sam Brooks

Latest

The 2026 Auckland Arts Festival, wrapped

a collage of four photos showing a man smiling in two and performers rehearsing a play in the other two

‘Immigrants in our own country’: Hone Kouka on the 30-year legacy of Waiora Te Ukāipō

The cover of the novel Hoods Landing which has a photo of a Christmas Tree with balloons on it and an alsatian dog in front.

Review: Hoods Landing is a gorgeous family drama – and a stunning debut

Review: The Dry House is a muddled cocktail of a show

Witi Ihimaera’s play Woman Far Walking strides proudly into 2025

a woman with dark hair and wearing a purple dress holds a distraught woman in a pink dress. they are onstage

Review: Mary is a slick spectacle that wants to be messy

More

Why do so many New Zealand plays have such short lives?

Review: Black Faggot is as relevant now as it was 10 years ago

Andrew Grainger in End of Summer Time, on a lazy boy reading a colin meads book

Review: Roger Hall’s End of Summer Time knows its audience

An older man in glasses and a blazer is in the foreground, with black-and-white photos of joyful older adults and families on various theatre posters behind him.

Understanding Sir Roger Hall, the most successful playwright in New Zealand

Review: Wrest is too much show