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Ivor (2022 - ongoing)
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HER (2023 - 2024)
Strange Town Theatre/Thrive Edinburgh
★★★★
Review: HER – Summerhall, Edinburgh – Corr Blimey
HIM and HER. They go way back. Pals since babies and totally inseparable, until they weren't.
Loosely reconnecting at high school, they're now 17 and barely recognise each other. What can guys and girls really have in common anyway? How could they possibly understand each other now? After everything that's happened? He's seen some things. And she's about to. Now, they'll need each other more than ever.
HER is a play about the damaging effects of gender inequality, the truth about consent and asks; how can you be the change you want to see in the world when you feel like the world is fighting against you?
Trigger Warning: This play deals with themes of sexual harassment and assault.
HER was performed in high schools across Edinburgh between January and February 2023 and again in October 2024. There were a number of public performances at the Scottish Storytelling Centre (2023) and at Summerhall (2024). The play has been published by Salamander Street Publishing and is available for purchase here.
HER received a 4 star review during its 2024 run and can be read in full here.
★★★★
"...excels with its strong cast and straight-arrow writing."
"Adams’ HER glares audiences in the eye – daring them to look away, like they may have to do ne so many times before; it’s brilliant writing which predicts the audience’s discomfort, but has no intentions of budging."
Below are some audience reviews/feedback from the 2023 public showings:
"We often say the arts are for changing the world and sending a quality piece like this about consent into schools will do exactly that."
"HER is brilliant youth theatre. Smartly written...with engaging performances all round. A tough topic handled with sensitivity...- schools should be jumping for the opportunity to show this play."
"All high schools should have the opportunity to see it. Very powerful message!"
"Great performances and thought provoking writing."
Directed by Steve Small and Debi Pirie
Performed by Reno Cole, Edward Hutchings, Zara-Louise Kennedy and Eleanor McMahon
Designer: Katie Innes
Lighting Designer: George Cort
Sound Designer: Fi Johnston
Production Manager: Vanessa Lee
Stage Manager: Susan McWhirter
Video Designer: Ellie Thompson
HER received a 4 star review during its 2024 run and can be read in full here.
★★★★
"...excels with its strong cast and straight-arrow writing."
"Adams’ HER glares audiences in the eye – daring them to look away, like they may have to do ne so many times before; it’s brilliant writing which predicts the audience’s discomfort, but has no intentions of budging."
Below are some audience reviews/feedback from the 2023 public showings:
"We often say the arts are for changing the world and sending a quality piece like this about consent into schools will do exactly that."
"HER is brilliant youth theatre. Smartly written...with engaging performances all round. A tough topic handled with sensitivity...- schools should be jumping for the opportunity to show this play."
"All high schools should have the opportunity to see it. Very powerful message!"
"Great performances and thought provoking writing."
Directed by Steve Small and Debi Pirie
Performed by Reno Cole, Edward Hutchings, Zara-Louise Kennedy and Eleanor McMahon
Designer: Katie Innes
Lighting Designer: George Cort
Sound Designer: Fi Johnston
Production Manager: Vanessa Lee
Stage Manager: Susan McWhirter
Video Designer: Ellie Thompson
BALISONG (2017-2019)
Strange Town Theatre/Fast Forward
Balisong is a story about Finlay Richards. A name that everyone at school knows. An average 15 year old boy who just wants to be seen. But you won’t see Finn. You won’t ever meet him.
Balisong is a play written for schools as part of the No Knives Better Lives Programme promoting positive and active citizenship among young people when they become aware of a pupil carrying a knife. It toured 58 schools across 17 local authorities, shown to over 12,000 people between September and November 2017.
On October 11th 2017 the Scottish Justice Secretary, Michael Matheson, attended a performance of Balisong at Ardrossan Academy and said, “Some young people previously indicated they would not tell anyone if someone they knew was in possession of a knife. What I witnessed, and what I’m told is taking place in other schools, is the instant behaviour change Balisong delivers.”
You can see the Scottish Government's Press Release here:
https://news.gov.scot/news/school-pupils-stand-up-to-knife-crime
Balisong was recommissioned to tour schools in every local authority in Scotland from September 2018 - February 2019 and was seen by over 25,000 pupils. The play returned to schools in Autumn 2019 for its third tour.
Balisong was nominated for the Partnership Award at the Herald Society Awards and the Collaboration Award at the Creative Edinburgh Awards in 2018.
Balisong is a play written for schools as part of the No Knives Better Lives Programme promoting positive and active citizenship among young people when they become aware of a pupil carrying a knife. It toured 58 schools across 17 local authorities, shown to over 12,000 people between September and November 2017.
On October 11th 2017 the Scottish Justice Secretary, Michael Matheson, attended a performance of Balisong at Ardrossan Academy and said, “Some young people previously indicated they would not tell anyone if someone they knew was in possession of a knife. What I witnessed, and what I’m told is taking place in other schools, is the instant behaviour change Balisong delivers.”
You can see the Scottish Government's Press Release here:
https://news.gov.scot/news/school-pupils-stand-up-to-knife-crime
Balisong was recommissioned to tour schools in every local authority in Scotland from September 2018 - February 2019 and was seen by over 25,000 pupils. The play returned to schools in Autumn 2019 for its third tour.
Balisong was nominated for the Partnership Award at the Herald Society Awards and the Collaboration Award at the Creative Edinburgh Awards in 2018.
Balisong was directed by Strange Town Theatre's Creative Director Steve Small and produced by Kai Peacock and Fast Forward.
It was performed by Ashleigh More, Daniel McGuire and Madeline Crabb in 2017 and by Kirsty Pickering, Fraser MacRae and Suzanne O'Brien in 2018/19.
For more information contact Fast Forward at [email protected]
PLAYS IN DEVELOPMENT
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THE HOUSE THAT MELTS WITH THE RAIN
"I cant remember a time when it wasn't raining. Or at least, when there wasn't the threat looming." |
The House that Melts with the Rain is a play about a woman who refuses to leave her home despite it visibly melting in the rain. It explores how breakable individuals cope in today's world of national security incidents, fearmongering and uncertainty and the importance of finding the hope through the clouds.
In 2016 a 15 minute scene s part of the Tron 100 Festival was performed at the Tron Theatre. Further script in hand readings have also taken place. It was directed by Kolbrun Bjort Sigfusdottir and performed by Kirsty Eila McIntyre and Vivien Reid.
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WHISPERS
"I've seen him. At his front window.
Same time every day. Wearing an ill fitting dressing gown that never covers his skin.
It's burgundy. And gapes like an open mouth."
From December 2016 to July 2017 Jennifer was mentored by Lynda Radley as part of the Playwright Studio Scotland's Mentorship Programme.
Whispers centres around a community's reaction to the arrival of a stranger, shortly after a tabloid newspaper warned that a convicted criminal had been rehoused nearby. It is a story about secrets and surveillance and about the power and danger of whispers.
A short extract of the play was performed at Words Words Words at the Traverse Theatre in 2015 and at Collider at D21 Theatre also in 2015.
A section of this play and the other plays written by the 2017 mentored playwrights was performed script in hand in July 2017.
Whispers centres around a community's reaction to the arrival of a stranger, shortly after a tabloid newspaper warned that a convicted criminal had been rehoused nearby. It is a story about secrets and surveillance and about the power and danger of whispers.
A short extract of the play was performed at Words Words Words at the Traverse Theatre in 2015 and at Collider at D21 Theatre also in 2015.
A section of this play and the other plays written by the 2017 mentored playwrights was performed script in hand in July 2017.
WARRIOR (2014-2016)
Black Dingo Productions/Edinburgh Just Festival/Ed Fringe
***** “Powerful” - Broadway baby
**** “Very strong writing”, “All too real” – All Edinburgh Theatre
**** - Inside one mind
*** “Insightful Script is just one of Warrior’s greatest strengths” – Three Weeks
Warrior at the Citizen's Theatre, Glasgow, March 2016
16 year old Evan lives in a different world. A world where he can ignore unwanted attention and shut off from the harsh reality of high school. But when his world is threatened, he reacts hastily, with drastic consequences.
Detailing the time between his arrest for leaving anti-Catholic comments online and the day of his trial, Warrior explores the aftermath of blind - not bigoted - ignorance to sectarianism in Scotland.
Warrior was the result of a commission from the Edinburgh Just Festival which was first performed at the Edinburgh Fringe 2014 as part of the Scottish Government funded Sectarian Awareness Project. Produced by Black Dingo Productions and directed by Amy Gilmartin, it was picked up by leading Sectarian Awareness charity Nil by Mouth for a schools tour in March 2015 and by Falkirk Community Trust in April 2015.
It was performed again at the Citizen's Theatre in Glasgow in March 2016 and is due to undertake another schools tour in Autumn 2016 in West Lothian, funded by Sense over Sectarianism.
Warrior is available for performing, if you would like to purchase a copy of the script, please use the contact form.
http://nilbymouth.org/schools/case-study-warrior-tackling-online-bigotry/
Cast (Fringe Run):
Euan Brockie, Marilyn Wilson, Adam Tomkins
Cast (School Tour & Citizen's Theatre Run):
Euan Brockie, Deborah Whyte, John Love
KISS, CUDDLE, TORTURE (2013-2014)
Black Dingo Productions/Edinburgh Just Festival/Ed Fringe
Image by Susie Cavill
***** "A stunning script by Jennifer Adam... Hauntingly beautiful and deeply moving"
-Three Weeks
**** - Broadway Baby (History Festival Performance)
*** "Jennifer Adam's dialogue is unforced and natural, often with a raw poetry that belies the play's subject matter"
- All Edinburgh Theatre
In a town known for its social and religious inequalities, three women battling their own demons at home, face the possibility of being expelled from their only refuge - the cold and crumbling school building where they work. Bonding over relationships, children and the importance of wearing marigolds, Lynn, Sue and Lucy are pushed to breaking point, forcing them into a life on the edge of escape.
Kiss, Cuddle, Torture was the first play Jennifer wrote for the Just Festival with Black Dingo Productions, centering around different experiences of domestic violence. Directed by Kirsty Boyle at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2013, it was also selected for the History Festival 2013 and was performed in March 2014 at Discover21 Theatre in Meadowbank, this time directed by Amy Gilmartin.
Cast During Fringe Run:
Jacqueline Hannan, Deborah Whyte, Pamela Reid, James Moyles, James Joseph Robson
SHORT PLAYS
Jennifer has written the following short plays and play extracts for a number of different theatre companies and festivals:
Ivor, Tandem Writing Collective, (20mins) (2023)
Life on Mars, Tandem Writing Collective (2022)
Heartbrain, Tandem Writing Collective (2022)
Dawn, Òran Mór, Play, Pie and a Pint, Pint Sized Plays (2021)
Annie and Mary, Strange Town Theatre Company and SMHAF(2020)
Silk, Tandem Writing Collective (2019)
Stella the Stargazer, Tandem Writing Collective (2019)
Mosaics, Tandem Writing Collective (2019)
The Returning Tandem Writing Collective (2019)
The Hunt Tandem Writing Collective (2019)
Knowing Me, Tandem Writing Collective (2019)
When Giants Sleep, Tandem Writing Collective (2018)
Smoke, Tandem Writing Collective (2018)
Rippling, Tron 100 Festival, Tron Theatre; (2017)
The Thing About Cats, Tandem Writing Collective (2017)
Walk a Mile, Cumbernauld Theatre, Scottish Short Play Award (2017)
Looped, BBC Scotland Radio Drama (2016)
Towers of Babel, Science Festival with Urban Fox Theatre Company (2016)
The House that Melts with the Rain, (15 minute version) Tron 100 Festival Tron Theatre;
& Winter Words Festival, In Motion Theatre Company (2016)
Partridge, Tandem Writing Collective (2016)
Walk a Mile, Tandem Writing Collective (2016)
Letters from Home, Tron Theatre (2015)
Chinese Whispers, Words Words Words, Traverse Theatre (2015)
Sprinter, Village Pub Theatre (2015)
Ascending Branches, Urban Fox Theatre (2014)
Breathing Out, Discover21 Theatre (2014)
What Would Jesus Do, Discover21 Theatre (2013), Village Pub Theatre(2013), Scottish Storytelling Centre (2014)
Time, Discover21 Theatre (2013/4)
Silver, Thrive Theatre (2014), Discover21 Theatre (2013)
Fingerprints, Firefly Arts, Guid Scratch (2012)
Eye for an Eye (2011), Avec Les Temps (2012), Darkest Before Dawn (2014), National Theatre of Scotland, 5 minute Theatre Project (writer/director/producer)
Eye for and Eye and Fingerprints have also appeared at the Traverse's Words Words Words Event in 2009
Further Theatre Credits:
Eros and Psyche, by Hope Whitmore, Black Dingo Productions (2012) (Director)
Dracula by Liz Lochhead (2011); McGrotty and Ludmilla by Alasdair Gray (2010); Feet by Gregor Shanks;(2010) Blythe Spirit by Noel Coward (2009); Baby with the Bathwater by Christopher Durang (2009); The Odd Couple by Neil Simon(2008), all with Holyrood Amateur Theatre Society (HATS) as a member of the production team.
Jennifer has also written articles and reviews for the following websites:
Halo Literary Magazine
Mslexia Magazine; For Woman Who Write
ThreeDays Away.com
The Flaneur Art Blog
UntoldRoads, Travel website