OFFICE DOORS {valley changemakers}
SAM
Founder and artistic director of Detour Company Theatre Lynette Carrington | Contributing Writer
When Christopher Forrest asked his mother how he could appear onstage like so many other actors and actresses he had seen during his mother’s job teaching at a local school, it was a lightbulb moment that has gone on to illuminate an entire industry in the Valley. Single moniker theatrical powerhouse and activist Sam was recently recognized for her inspirational efforts with a Governor’s Arts Award. As founder and artistic director of Detour Company Theatre, she created a theater company that specifically includes performers with disabilities such as cerebral palsy, autism and Down syndrome. All adult actors who want to participate are welcome, and performances are free to the public. An early incarnation of the company was formed in 2000 when Sam worked with two other women to create a group called Play It By Heart. Sam enthusiastically embraced the chance to provide a recreational program for people with disabilities, 12 FRONTDOORS MEDIA | SEPTEMBER 2018
but realized she needed to create a little “detour” with the company. “I had come from teaching theater at the Phoenix Day School for the Deaf and all I wanted to do was teach theater, movement and arts,” Sam said. She realized that if she was going to walk away from her job, she wanted to be advocating for a real arts experience, not just a recreational program. At the time, her son Christopher, multi-brain damaged since birth and living with mild cerebral palsy, had spent time around theatrical productions while his mother was teaching theater. He told his mother that he wanted to have a chance to take the stage, too, and Detour Company
