Editorial: Adam Brace
Dream List: what plays should we be reading, putting on and going to see?Plays that use the medium as the message, plays that aren’t a socio-political lecture, plays that cheerfully tell their audience to fuck off, plays that are intellectually delinquent, plays that are balls-out entertaining and naughty, plays in which things HAPPEN, plays written by people who don’t write shit TV shows, plays that have live music, plays that might get the Bush theatre shut down. Describe your first theatrical epiphanyI used to go to the theatre and drift off for half of it, think about cricket or holidays or stuff I had to do. Then I'd chastise myself for not concentrating, enjoy the last twenty minutes and convince myself it was a good show. I can't remember when I first realised that, as an audience member, getting bored or not getting it at all were not necessarily my fault. But whenever I did realise that, is your answer. Who would you invite to your fantasy theatrical dinner party?Hotspur What are your career highlights so far?The piece of writing I’m most proud of is this underground university magazine I did in 2001 (this probably sounds disingenuous, but it's not). It was a satire of university life – the politics, the journalism, the societies and social groups. I found a copy last year and was surprised how vicious and funny it still is. My friends Paul and Matthew (who is now a pro comedian) started it with me, but we didn’t tell anyone we were doing it. It was wildly popular, completely anonymous, banned all over campus and the most rewarding creative thing I’ve ever done. What's the strangest experience you've had in the theatre?In Edinburgh C Venues at four in the morning, a techie interrupted a girl and me having sex behind a curtain. The techie looked at us for a few seconds, then a few seconds more, much longer than we felt was polite, before telling us he had to lock up and could we please leave. He waited while we got dressed. That was quite strange. Made stranger because the girl was actually a critic who had already reviewed my play that year. Sometimes it is difficult to calibrate your relationship with the critics. Who is your favourite actor of all time?Orson Welles. Gravity plus mischief. Who is the greatest influence on your career?Specifically in terms of my career, probably John Ginman who runs the Goldsmiths Playwriting MA. But as much as anything, Luck. That I have a career at all.
Where do you want to be in 5 years time?Living in an interesting city, possibly still this one, with not enough money to be comfortable and not so little money as to be uncomfortable. Possibly directing a few more plays and comedy shows, possibly making a documentary film. Having not done any corporate or marketing work, having not written shit for money for someone else's shit tv project, having watched deserving friends receive recognition, having had my Plays 1 published, having watched England play cricket abroad, having not accidentally knocked anyone up, having had a play on in New York and Germany and having not been found out as a charlatan.
What' s the best thing you've ever seen at the theatre?My local theatre showed ‘Apocalypse Now’ once. They pulled a screen down over the stage. Joking. Play with no Name, Maly Drama Theatre St Petersburg. What are you up to at the moment?I am using this editorial to procrastinate instead of writing two plays that I’m commissioned to do.
Biography: Adam BraceAdam Brace was born in London in 1980. He studied Performance Writing (MA) at Goldsmiths College and is Dramaturg with the company Simple8. He has represented Surrey County at Rugby Union, and actually that was a year group where a lot of those guys went professional. |
