All the world’s a stage, and sometimes you don’t get the role you wanted. But if you hang in there, second chances often come around.
Adam Sampieri, NCSSM-Durham’s Instructor of Drama, will attest to that. As a veteran actor (his first acting gig was in a six-month production at 12 years old), he’s missed out on his share of roles. But most prominent among missed opportunities was his initial attempt to land the theater director role at NCSSM-Durham. He’s played the role so perfectly that he’s reprised it for 18 years now, but as one of two finalists for the position back in 2007, he just missed landing the spot. When the position unexpectedly and shortly opened back up, he got a callback. And he nailed it.
Just recently, Sampieri reached a milestone when he directed his 50th production at NCSSM, a show called “Anon(ymous),” by Naomi Iizuka. “Rejection’s part of the business, so not getting the job the first time around was a good reminder for me of that,” Sampieri says. “But so are second chances. Now here I am, 18 years and 50 shows later. There’s nowhere else I want to be now.”
Sampieri came to Durham from his home state of New Jersey to attend Duke University, where he earned his teaching licensure for secondary English education as part of his English undergrad degree while remaining deeply involved in theater as a playwright and actor. With no definite post-graduation plan, a trusted mentor and teacher in Duke’s theater department encouraged him to stay around the area, get some of the plays he was writing produced, and “build up some momentum” till he figured out what he wanted to do.
“I loved the area, and I loved Durham,” Sampieri says, “so I decided to stay.”
While being all dramatic is in Sampieri’s blood (his father was also an actor), so, too, is public service. Through the eighth grade Sampieiri attended public schools in New Jersey, but switched to a private school for high school. The value – and the challenges – of his public school experience were not lost on him.
“I had outstanding teachers growing up,” Sampieri says. So when I got to college, in addition to wanting to get my degree in English and study theater as well, I just knew that public education was important to me. I knew that not everybody was fortunate enough to have the opportunities I had, so I wanted to help create an education system and an opportunity in public school that was on par with what I had experienced in high school.”
Sampieri credits the school’s administration with much of the success he has enjoyed as a drama instructor at NCSSM. From a stable budget to top-notch facilities to seeing the chancellor in the audience for every production’s premiere, he is thankful for the support given to the theater department, and aware that, just like the opportunities afforded him as a young student, the opportunities afforded NCSSM’s students and staff are not often found anywhere else at the secondary level.
“The world of professional theater is challenging. But at NCSSM I have a budget every year, I have a season to produce, and just look at the facilities we are fortunate to have here on the Durham campus,” he says. “Those things are scarce outside of Broadway and regional theater. I don’t know where else we could find what we have here.”
None of it would be of any worth were it not for the student actors who bring the shows to life, Sampieri says.
“I don’t think you can find a better high school job. Our students are already driven, already passionate. They are curious and committed to the work and they want to explore. It’s less a question of ‘What can I get out of them?’ and more a question of, ‘What can we reasonably accomplish in the time that we have together?’”
A particular point of pride for Sampieri is the fact that there are no prerequisites for a student to participate in a show. Nearly half the cast of Sampieri’s 50th production were making their theatrical debuts.
Whether a seasoned actor or brand new to theater, Sampieri is grateful to be able to help shepherd students through the adventure that is each show. In the process, he’s evolved as well, having become a better actor, artist, and teacher by working alongside them.
Sampieri’s theater students, who with his blessing universally call him “Sampi,” certainly love him. Zack Fowler ’12 and his now-wife Madelaine met in the theater at NCSSM. They grew to trust Sampieri so much that, 12 years later, they asked him to be the officiant of their wedding.
“Even on my hardest days, when I was grappling with anxieties and stresses that were overwhelming to my newly minted NCSSM junior brain, Adam was able to pull me into a warm and inviting creative environment that made me feel seen, cared for, and truly celebrated. Madelaine and I loved learning from Sampi not just because he was a good performer and a good theater teacher – we loved learning from Sampi because we trusted him deeply and felt empowered to be honest with each other and ourselves because of the culture he built.”
Perry Kim ’26 performed in “Anon(ymous), Sampieri’s 50th directorial production at NCSSM. The senior from Heide Trask Senior High School in Rocky Point has acted in 32 shows since first grade.
“NCSSM-Durham truly has a professional program, and there’s lots of student leadership,” she says, “but everything we are able to do and accomplish is really thanks to Sampi. There’s never a dull moment with him. He’s always smiling and upbeat and he just brings the energy and he is really able to see beyond the script into what a show can be rather than just what we’re given on paper.”
As evidence of Sampieri’s vision, Perry points to what she and others call the “Sampieri Twist” where, she says, Sampieri “uses his directorial prowess” to make things even more interesting for the audience and the actors. For “Anon(ymous)” he had Perry and two other students play the same role.
“It turned out great,” Perry says. “It was such a fun show to put together, and exploring his vision for things was a great opportunity.”
“This is a pretty great place to meet students where they are and help take them where they might not have thought they could go,” Sampieri says. “Acting isn’t lying, it’s about telling the truth and getting down to the things that make us human, the things that move us and are difficult for us. Watching our students come together and support each other and teach each other and learn from each other, and hearing the rousing rounds of applause from their peers in the audience at curtain call is just incredible. Seeing that kind of support, and seeing the actors discover that courage and confidence and pride and just discover themselves is the whole reason I do this. The students feel like they are right where they are supposed to be and that makes me feel like I’m right where I’m supposed to be. That’s a really, really moving thing.”
