{{Short description|Australian playwright}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2015}} {{Use Australian English|date=May 2015}} {{Infobox person | name = <!-- defaults to article title when left blank --> | image = <!-- filename only, no "File:" or "Image:" prefix, and no enclosing brackets --> | alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software --> | caption = | birth_name = <!-- only use if different from name --> | birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date|54|2024|11|07}}<!-- {{Birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} for living people supply only the year with {{Birth year and age|YYYY}} unless the exact date is already widely published, as per WP:DOB. For people who have died, use {{Birth date|YYYY|MM|DD}}. --> | birth_place = Adelaide, Australia | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (DEATH date then BIRTH date) --> | death_place = | other_names = | occupation = Playwright | years_active = 1996– | known_for = ''Clocks and Whistles'' (1996)<br>''All About My Mother'' (2007)<br>''Wife'' (2019) | notable_works = }} '''Samuel Adamson''' (born {{birth based on age as of date|54|2024|11|07|noage=yes}}) is an Australian playwright based in London, England. Productions of his plays have been staged at the Bush Theatre, The Old Vic, Almeida Theatre, and the Royal National Theatre. In November 2024, his adaptation of Peter Carey's novel ''Jack Maggs'' is being staged by the State Theatre Company of South Australia in Adelaide.
==Early life and education== Samuel Adamson was born in Adelaide, South Australia, in {{birth based on age as of date|54|2024|11|07|noage=yes}}, to parents Scott and Mary Ann.<ref name=interview2024>{{cite interview|first=Samuel |last=Adamson| interviewer-first=Genevieve| interviewer-last=Meegan| title=Adelaide playwright's special homecoming with Jack Maggs |website=InDaily|date=7 November 2024 |url=https://www.indailysa.com.au/inreview/theatre/2024/11/07/adelaide-playwrights-special-homecoming-with-jack-maggs |access-date=9 November 2024}}</ref>
He grew up on a farm in Victor Harbor, and went to boarding school at Prince Alfred College in Adelaide. He later credited his English teacher Jane Nelson with inspiring him to become a playwright, after his class had to write an assignment called "The 18th Summer". It was to be a scene dramatising what might happen in the future, relating to their study of the play ''Summer of the Seventeenth Doll'', by Australian playwright Ray Lawler.<ref name=interview2024/>
Adamson studied history at the University of Adelaide, before moving to London in his early twenties,<ref name=interview2006/><ref name=interview2024/> in 1991.<ref name=ausstage>{{cite web |title=Samuel Adamson |website=AusStage |url=https://ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/423456 |access-date=10 November 2024| quote=Australian playwright who has lived and worked in London, England since 1991.}}</ref> He wrote secretly at school and university, but did not tell anyone about his writings at that time.<ref name=interview2006/><ref name=interview2024/>
==Career== ===Stage=== In June 1989 he acted in the play ''Fathers and Sons'' in an Independent Theatre production directed by Rob Croser at Theatre 62, in the Adelaide suburb of Hilton. The play was written by Irish dramatist Brian Friel and based on the novel of the same name by Ivan Turgenev.<ref>{{cite web |title=Fathers and Sons |website=AusStage |url=https://ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/74500 |access-date=10 November 2024}}</ref> The following year he performed in another Independent Theatre production, this time Joe Orton's 1965 play ''Loot''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Loot |website=AusStage |url=https://ausstage.edu.au/pages/event/74362 |access-date=10 November 2024}}</ref>
Adamson's debut play was ''Clocks and Whistles'' at the Bush Theatre in 1996, directed by Bush artistic director Dominic Dromgoole and with a cast including Kate Beckinsale. It won rave reviews,<ref name=interview2006>{{cite interview|first=Samuel |last=Adamson| interviewer-first=Jasper | interviewer-last= Rees |title='Chuffed? That's an understatement' |website=The Telegraph |date=1 February 2006 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/drama/3649793/Chuffed-Thats-an-understatement.html |access-date=9 November 2024| quote=Adamson was 26 when his debut, Clocks and Whistles, about fragile friendships among twentysomethings and starring Kate Beckinsale, won rave reviews at the Bush in 1996.}}</ref> and was later produced in Germany and New York. The play led to him becoming Pearson Writer in Residence at the Bush from 1997 to 1998.<ref name=alp>{{cite web |title=Samuel Adamson, playwright |url=https://amberlanepress.com/adamson_samuel.htm |website= Amber Lane Press |access-date=9 November 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=All About My Mother (Paperback) |website=Jarrolds |date=17 September 2024 |url=https://www.jarrolds.co.uk/departments/books/poetry%248-language-and-literature-books/drama-texts-plays-and-screenplays-books/all-about-my-mother-paperback-9780571239528 |access-date=9 November 2024}}</ref>
Adamson's second play was ''Grace Note'',<ref name=alp/> produced in 1997 for the Peter Hall Company at the Old Vic, starring Geraldine McEwan, which was also directed by Dromgoole, but it did not receive high praise from reviewers.<ref name=interview2006/><ref>{{cite web |last=Wolf |first=Matt |title=Grace Note |website=Variety |date=3 August 1997 |url=https://variety.com/1997/legit/reviews/grace-note-2-1200450865/ |access-date=9 November 2024}}</ref> His next play was ''Drink, Dance, Laugh and Lie'' at the Bush in 1999.<ref name=tiffany>[https://archive.today/20110911043116/http://www.breakfastattiffanys.co.uk/cast_creative/creative/sam_adamson/ Breakfast at Tiffany's] List of works from the programme, Theatre Royal Haymarket, September 2009.</ref>
He has written versions of Henrik Ibsen's plays. ''A Doll's House'', directed by Thea Sharrock, was the tenth anniversary production at Southwark Playhouse, London, in 2003,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160303205734/http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/otherresources/interviews/TheaSharrock.htm "If the profession wants me to stay I'd love to"] - Interview with Thea Sharrock, 2003.</ref><ref name=interview2006/> while ''Pillars of the Community'' was staged in 2005 at the Royal National Theatre.<ref name=interview2006/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Ibsen |first1=H. |last2=Adamson |first2=S. |title=Pillars of the Community |publisher=Faber |series=Bramwell Collection |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-571-23155-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aV-mQgAACAAJ |access-date=9 November 2024 |page=}}</ref>
He also adapted two plays by Anton Chekhov for tours for the Oxford Stage Company, both directed by Dominic Dromgoole: ''Three Sisters'', which transferred to the Whitehall Theatre, and ''The Cherry Orchard'', which moved to the Riverside Studios. He adapted Bernhard Studlar's ''Vienna Dreaming'' at the National Theatre Studio and Arthur Schnitzler's ''Professor Bernhardi'' for Dumbfounded Theatre at the Arcola Theatre in 2005 and also on BBC Radio 3. He also wrote ''Tomorrow Week'' for BBC Radio 3.<ref name=tiffany/>
Adamson's play ''Southwark Fair'' was directed at the Royal National Theatre in 2005 by artistic director Nicholas Hytner, starring Rory Kinnear, Margaret Tyzack and Con O'Neill. This was the first full-length work written by him to be staged in close to nine years.<ref name=interview2006/> It was staged in Melbourne in 2011.<ref name=ausstage/>
His one-woman play ''Some Kind of Bliss'' was performed by Lucy Briers at the National Theatre in 2006 and then at the Trafalgar Studios in 2007. He also wrote ''Fish and Company'' for the National Youth Theatre and Soho Theatre. In 2005 he contributed to the 24-Hour Plays at the Old Vic and in 2007 to ''A Chain Play'' at the Almeida Theatre.<ref name=alp/>
''All About My Mother'', his stage adaptation of Pedro Almodóvar's film ''Todo sobre mi madre'', was produced to great acclaim at the Old Vic in 2007, starring Lesley Manville and Diana Rigg.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100420074325/http://www.oldvictheatre.com/whatson.php?id=36 "All About My Mother"], Old Vic. (archived 2010).</ref> It was later staged by the Melbourne Theatre Company.<ref name=interview2024/> It was performed at the Odeon Theatre, Norwood, in Adelaide in 2011.<ref name=ausstage/>
His play ''Mrs Affleck'', inspired by Ibsen's ''Little Eyolf'', opened at the Cottesloe Theatre in January 2009, directed by Marianne Elliott and starring Claire Skinner.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20081216043102/http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/mrsaffleck "Mrs Affleck"]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090123055331/http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/?lid=43109 Samuel Adamson talks about his new play in the Cottesloe Theatre]</ref> His adaptation of Truman Capote's ''Breakfast at Tiffany's'', starring Anna Friel and directed by Sean Mathias, opened at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, London in September 2009.<ref>{{cite web |last=Shenton |first=Mark |title=Breakfast at Tiffany's Begins Performances at Theatre Royal Haymarket with Friel and Cross |website=Playbill |date=9 September 2009 |url=https://playbill.com/article/breakfast-at-tiffanys-begins-performances-at-theatre-royal-haymarket-with-friel-and-cross-com-164227 |access-date=9 November 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Fisher |first=Philip |title=Theatre review: Breakfast at Tiffany's at Theatre Royal, Haymarket |website=British Theatre Guide |date=1 January 2009 |url=https://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/breakfasttiff-rev |access-date=9 November 2024}}</ref> ''A Quiet Island'' was due to open at the Almeida in 2009, directed by Indhu Rubasingham, but was postponed owing to a clash of commitments.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Quiet Island at Almeida no longer happening. |website=London Theatre |date=8 June 2016 |url=https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatre-news/news/a-quiet-island-at-almeida-no-longer-happening |access-date=9 November 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Shenton |first=Mark |title=Mrs. Klein Revival Replaces A Quiet Island World Premiere on Almeida Theatre Schedule |website=Playbill |date=15 May 2009 |url=https://playbill.com/article/mrs-klein-revival-replaces-a-quiet-island-world-premiere-on-almeida-theatre-schedule-com-160928 |access-date=9 November 2024}}</ref>
His play ''Frank and Ferdinand'', an interpretation of the story of the Pied Piper, was part of the National Theatre Connections Festival in 2011,<ref>{{cite web |title=National Theatre Connections: Plays for Young People: Frank & Ferdinand;...| date=2011 |website=Concord Theatricals |url=https://www.concordtheatricals.co.uk/s/47198/national-theatre-connections-plays-for-young-people-frank-ferdinand-gap-cloud-busting-those-legs-shooting-truth-bassett-gargantua-children-of-killers-the-beauty-manifesto-too-fast-2011 |access-date=9 November 2024}}</ref> and was performed by young amateur companies all over Britain.<ref>{{cite web |title=Islington Community |website=Chloe Kenward |url=https://www.chloekenward.com/frank-and-fendiand-islington-commun |access-date=9 November 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Children of Killers/Frank & Ferdinand/Those Legs/Gap, National |website=The Standard |date=10 April 2012 |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/theatre/children-of-killers-frank-ferdinand-those-legs-gap-national-cotteseloe-review-7439495.html |access-date=9 November 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Hanks |first=Charlie |title=Frank and Ferdinand: 2 star review by Charlie Hanks |website=West End and Regional Theatre Tickets & Reviews from Broadway Baby |date=7 August 2012 |url=https://broadwaybaby.com/shows/frank-and-ferdinand/16710 |access-date=9 November 2024}}</ref> Also in 2011, Adamson wrote a short play for the production ''Decade'', commissioned by Rupert Goold for his company Headlong, performed at St Katharine Docks and directed by Goold.<ref>{{cite web |last=Billington |first=Michael |title=Decade |website=The Guardian |date=8 September 2011 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2011/sep/09/decade-review |access-date=9 November 2024}}</ref>
In collaboration with trumpeter Alison Balsom Adamson devised ''Gabriel'', a play using the music of ''The Fairy Queen'' and other pieces by Henry Purcell, staged as part of the 2013 summer season at Shakespeare's Globe.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Halliburton|first=Rachel|title=Gabriel|journal=Time Out|date=22 July 2013|url=http://www.timeout.com/london/theatre/gabriel|accessdate=17 August 2013}}</ref> The play was directed by Dominic Dromgoole and the cast included Alison Balsom, Sam Cox, and Jessie Buckley.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022154057/http://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/review.php/38777/gabriel| archive-date= 22 Oct 2013| title= Gabriel|date= 22 July 2013 |first=Natasha |last=Tripney| url-status=live| website=The Stage}}</ref> He then worked with American singer Tori Amos on the musical ''The Light Princess'', based on the George MacDonald story ''The Light Princess'', staged at the National Theatre in 2013.<ref name=interview2024/><ref>{{cite web |last=Benedict |first=David |title=West End Review: 'The Light Princess' |website=Variety |date=10 October 2013 |url=https://variety.com/2013/legit/reviews/west-end-review-the-light-princess-1200712342/ |access-date=9 November 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Light Princess |website=Edgerton Foundation New Play Awards |date=15 September 2013 |url=https://circle.tcg.org/edgertonfoundationnewplayawards/2013/the-light-princess?ssopc=1 |access-date=9 November 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Light Princess |website=WhatsOnStage.com |date=10 October 2013 |url=https://www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/news/the-light-princess_32236.html/ |access-date=9 November 2024}}</ref>
In 2016, Adamson's adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's children's novel ''Running Wild'' was staged at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre. Directed by Timothy Sheader and Dale Rooks, this was the largest scale production ever presented at the theatre, featuring a cast of 40 young people as well as life-sized puppet animals.<ref>{{cite web |title=Running Wild (2016) |website=Open Air Theatre |url=https://openairtheatreheritage.com/productions/running-wild/WU0ysigAADpAkzsN |access-date=10 November 2024}}</ref>
In 2019, his play ''Wife'' (based on Ibsen's ''A Doll's House'') was staged at the Kiln Theatre in Kilburn, London.<ref>{{cite web |title=Wife |website=Kiln Theatre |date=20 June 2019 |url=https://kilntheatre.com/whats-on/wife/ |access-date=9 November 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Billington |first=Michael |title=Wife review – rousing look at 60 years of sexual identity |website=the Guardian |date=5 June 2019 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/jun/05/wife-review-kiln-london-samuel-adamson |access-date=9 November 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Bassett |first=Harvey |title=Review: Wife at Kiln Theatre |website=Exeunt Magazine |date=7 June 2019 |url=https://exeuntmagazine.com/reviews/review-wife-kiln-theatre/ |access-date=9 November 2024}}</ref><ref name=interview2024/> In August 2020, a production of ''Wife'' was presented by the Seoul Metropolitan Theater Company in Seoul, Korea, directed by Shin Yoo-chung and featuring an ensemble that included actress Son Ji-yoon.<ref>{{cite web |last=Dong-hee |first=Hwang |title=[Herald Review] 'Wife': A look at 90 years of shifting notions of marriage |website=The Korea Herald |date=23 January 2024 |url=https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20240123000765 |access-date=9 November 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=박 |first=은희 |date=2020-06-23 |title=서울시극단, 연극 '와이프' 앙코르...손지윤·우범진·송광일 합류 |url=https://www.inews24.com/view/1275737 |access-date=2023-08-26 |website=아이뉴스24 |language=ko}}</ref> It was performed several times, including at Daehangno Arts Theater, and sold out.<ref>{{cite web |title=[TRANS] 200812 LGBT's "The Story of All Nora" in the World, the Play "Wife" Review. |website=Musical in Life |date=12 August 2020 |url=https://musicalholic21.wordpress.com/2020/08/12/trans-200812-lgbts-the-story-of-all-nora-in-the-world-the-play-wife-review/ |access-date=10 November 2024}}</ref>
In 2024, also at the Kiln, his musical ''The Ballad of Hattie and James'' was staged.<ref>{{cite web |last=John |first=Emma |title=The Ballad of Hattie and James review – a musical friendship comes back into tune |website=The Guardian |date=19 April 2024 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2024/apr/19/the-ballad-of-hattie-and-james-review-a-musical-friendship-comes-back-into-tune |access-date=9 November 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Ballad of Hattie and James |website=English Touring Theatre |date=20 May 2024 |url=https://ett.org.uk/our-work/the-ballad-of-hattie-and-james/ |access-date=9 November 2024}}</ref> It was directed by Richard Twyman and starred Charles Edwards, Sophie Thompson, and Suzette Llewellyn.<ref>{{cite web |last=Adamson |first=Samuel |title=The Ballad of Hattie and James |website=Kiln Theatre |date=24 May 2024 |url=https://kilntheatre.com/whats-on/the-ballad-of-hattie-and-james/ |access-date=9 November 2024}}</ref> Adamson names this production and ''Wife'' at the Kiln as "real career highlights".<ref name=interview2024/>
In March 2019, Adamson started a collaboration with Geordie Brookman,<!---red link for overdue article---> former director of the State Theatre Company of South Australia (STCSA), who had recently resigned and moved to Berlin, and the new STCSA artistic director, Mitchell Butel, on a stage adaptation of Peter Carey's novel ''Jack Maggs''. The novel is a reworking of the Dickens novel ''Great Expectations'', set in 19th-century London. Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, much of their work was done over Zoom.<ref name=interview2024/> The production will be staged by the STCSA at the Dunstan Playhouse from 15 to 30 November 2024, starring Mark Saturno, Ahunim Abebe, James Smith, and Nathan O'Keefe, Jacqy Philips, Rachel Burke, Jelena Nicdao, and Dale March, and directed by Brookman.<ref>{{cite web |title=Jack Maggs |website=State Theatre Company |date=7 November 2024 |url=https://statetheatrecompany.com.au/shows/jack-maggs/ |access-date=9 November 2024}}</ref> Adamson remains in Adelaide for the duration of the production.<ref name=interview2024/><!---red links are there to distinguish those actors from other people with articles - articles to follow at some point--->
===Film=== Adamson wrote the screenplay for the 2007 short film, ''Running For River'', starring Romola Garai and directed by Angus Jackson,<ref>{{cite web |title=Running For River |website=Angus Jackson Director and Writer |url=https://www.angusjackson.com/projects/project-one-3wb4e-mtmhs-7z5ba |access-date=9 November 2024}}</ref> but has said that he is not interested in writing for film or television, preferring the stage.<ref name=interview2024/>
==Personal life== Adamson has a brother, David (who is married to journalist and TV presenter Jessica Adamson), and a sister Sally, both of whom live in Adelaide.<ref name=interview2024/>
His life partner is Richard.<ref name=interview2024/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/423456 Samuel Adamson] on AusStage * [https://www.whatsonstage.com/?s=samuel+adamson&submit=Search Search on Samuel Adamson] on ''What's on Stage''
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Adamson, Samuel}} Category:English dramatists and playwrights Category:Writers from Adelaide Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:English male dramatists and playwrights