Auriol Smith is an English actress and theatre director. She was a
founder member and associate director of the Orange Tree Theatre in
Richmond, London. She co-founded the theatre in 1971 with her husband
Sam Walters, who became the United Kingdom's longest-serving artistic
director. Walters and Smith stepped down from their posts at the
Orange Tree Theatre in June 2014.Whilst taking a degree in drama at
Bristol University she became President of the Green Room Society at
the newly founded university Drama Department. This was followed by a
year in America as a Fulbright Scholar, before making her professional
debut at the Hampstead Theatre Club in January 1960 in Harold Pinter's
first play The Room (which she had originally played in a converted
squash-court for the Bristol Drama Department in May 1957).After
extensive experience in repertory theatres and a year in Jamaica
setting up a drama school and theatre, she and her husband Sam Walters
co-founded the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond, London in 1971, where
she played many classic and modern parts. "We enjoyed doing
small-scale productions in Jamaica, and hoped that eventually we'd run
that kind of theatre in England. Then, when we returned in 1971, we
decided that now was the time and Richmond (where we lived) was the
place." (Auriol Smith in conversation with Marsha Hanlon for the
Orange Tree Appeal brochure, 1991).
founder member and associate director of the Orange Tree Theatre in
Richmond, London. She co-founded the theatre in 1971 with her husband
Sam Walters, who became the United Kingdom's longest-serving artistic
director. Walters and Smith stepped down from their posts at the
Orange Tree Theatre in June 2014.Whilst taking a degree in drama at
Bristol University she became President of the Green Room Society at
the newly founded university Drama Department. This was followed by a
year in America as a Fulbright Scholar, before making her professional
debut at the Hampstead Theatre Club in January 1960 in Harold Pinter's
first play The Room (which she had originally played in a converted
squash-court for the Bristol Drama Department in May 1957).After
extensive experience in repertory theatres and a year in Jamaica
setting up a drama school and theatre, she and her husband Sam Walters
co-founded the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond, London in 1971, where
she played many classic and modern parts. "We enjoyed doing
small-scale productions in Jamaica, and hoped that eventually we'd run
that kind of theatre in England. Then, when we returned in 1971, we
decided that now was the time and Richmond (where we lived) was the
place." (Auriol Smith in conversation with Marsha Hanlon for the
Orange Tree Appeal brochure, 1991).
Share this
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
Join us for free and get valuable content delivered right through your inbox.