Tandem Writing CollectiveWe are a female led writing collective established and run by playwrights, Jennifer Adam, Amy Hawes and Mhairi Quinn. We travel between Edinburgh and Glasgow showcasing our plays and linking up with grassroots theatremakers as we go. Tandem has new writing at its heart. The collective was formed to create and perform short topical pieces of experimental theatre. Our usual events offer 5-6 short form plays, which are rehearsed in the afternoon and then performed script in hand that evening. Each show also features live music from excellent local musicians. Our stories are always current and push boundaries in terms of form and content. We aim to entertain and educate and we do so in a relaxed, informal environment. We began in 2016 in the function rooms of local pubs, and despite our work now being welcomed at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow and the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, we still like to maintain that fun and relaxed vibe in our shows. |
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"The Tandem Collective delivers exciting new writing from fresh voices in a package which guarantees the audience a good night out. Go. You won't regret it. "
- Stephen Greenhorn (Sunshine on Leith, River City, Passing Places)
Image by Mihaela Bodlovic
Since our very first show in June 2016 , we have produced 85 Tandem Plays and 20 events to date, collectively showcasing 55 individual pieces of theatre.
We have taken part in 2 festivals so far, Formation Festival at Assembly Roxy in February 2018 and Rep Stripped at Dundee Rep in March 2019.
Our events have featured live music from excellent local musicians and we have more recently been working with Dr. Aaron Macgregor as our musical director. Aaron has composed original music for our plays since 2020.
We are also very lucky to have worked with a number of incredibly talented Scottish actors and inspiring directors including Amy McKenzie, Jo Rush, Kolbrun Bjort Sigfusdottir, Sarah-Rose Graber, Tom Moriarty, Fiona MacKinnon, Flavia D'Avila and Alice Langley.
At our first birthday event in June 2017 we celebrated with cake, live music and this time our plays included work donated by Lynda Radley, Rob Drummond and Clare Duffy.
A number of our plays have gone on to bigger things: Amy Hawes's play At Home with Bella was produced by Urban Fox Theatre Company as part of their Feast/Famine Project, Mhairi Quinn's play The Bridge Street Flats reached the final of the 2017 Progressive Playwright Award and Walk a Mile by Jennifer Adam was one of the winners of the Scotland Short Play Award in 2017.
ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS - TANDEM 2024
In April 2023, Tandem Writing Collective brought you their most ambitious, moving and thought-provoking work in the form of three 20 minute plays. The plays are now being developed with a writing mentor and Tandem will return to stages in March (Introverts the Musical, by Amy Hawes), April (Rage Room by Mhairi Quinn) and May (Ivor by Jennifer Adam) with three 45 minute plays, grown from the seeds of their April shows.
Details of each show and a link to buy tickets is below.
Introverts the Musical by Amy Hawes and Dr. Aaron Macgregor
Debbie loves her daughter Angela... so there's no way she's letting Angela become an introvert like herself. A musical about mental health, neurodiversity, family and fitting in. For anyone who’s ever been told they are too quiet - because introverts deserve musicals too!
Friday, 29th March 7.45pm, TRON THEATRE, Glasgow
Saturday 30th March, 8pm, TRAVERSE THEATRE, Edinburgh (BSL Interpreted performance)
Rage Room by Mhairi Quinn
Local ‘celebrity’/podcaster/influencer Jos has invited her mum and older sister along as her ‘you plus 2’ to sample the delights of Glasgow’s first ever Rage Room, found on Victoria Road in the gentrified Govanhill. Jos assumes it will be a laugh, a free day out for the girls! She’ll get some decent content out of it for her channels and in turn the Rage Rooms will benefit from her impressive following – everyone’s a winner!
Three women, one rage room, a few baseball bats and a lifetime of things unsaid – what could possibly go wrong?
Friday, 26th April, 7.45, TRON THEATRE, Glasgow
Saturday, 27th April, 8pm, TRAVERSE THEATRE, Edinburgh (BSL Interpreted performance)
Ivor by Jennifer Adam
What do you buy the kid who has everything for their 21st birthday? Sarah’s got this one covered. She’s bought her daughter, Scarlet, something so momentous, so magnificent, so mountainous... All Scarlet needs to do is accept it. But Scarlet and her partner Jude have other plans, plans that cannot wait, plans that their very survival may depend on.
Ivor is about sustainability and survival and asks how far you are willing to go for the things you love the most, when those things begin to slip away.
"Ivor is an exciting new play – thrilling, funny and surreal. Jennifer Adam is a brilliant writer who manages to sit the epic next to the domestic with heart and humanity."
- Stef Smith (Roadkill, Swallow, Float, Nora: A Doll's House)
Saturday, 18th May, 8pm, TRAVERSE THEATRE, Edinburgh
Friday, 24th May, 745pm, TRON THEATRE, Glasgow (BSL Interpreted performance)
For tickets, click the links below:
Rock, Paper, Scissors - Tron Theatre
Rock, Paper, Scissors | Traverse Theatre
Tandem Writing Collective Presents: Rock, Paper, Scissors
How many people can you afford to feed? Five for a week? One for a month? How about 10 billion for the next 27 years, but then no-one at all? When the world runs out of resources, how will your grandchildren decide? Should we rock, paper, scissors for not just the right to be heard, but the right to survive?
With quiet facts drowned out by loud opinions and calamity around the corner, the hugely successful Tandem Writing Collective are back to bring their unique short writing and music nights to audiences, with their most ambitious and critical project to date: ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS, exploring how we decide on the hardest, the most delicate and the most divisive themes facing us all today.
Each event features one 45 minute play with live music from Aaron MacGregor.
Reviews:
http://www.tandemwritingcollective.co.uk/reviews
Below are some images from our previous Tandem Writing Collective events.
To keep up to date with future Tandem Writing Collective events, follow us on twitter @tandemwriters or visit our website www.tandemwritingcollective.co.uk
