Adam_Brace
Adam Brace
British playwright (1980–2023)
Adam George Brace (25 March 1980 – 29 April 2023) was a British playwright and director. Brace was the resident associate dramaturg of Soho Theatre in London.[1]
Adam Brace | |
|---|---|
| Born | Adam George Brace (1980-03-25)25 March 1980 London, England |
| Died | 29 April 2023(2023-04-29) (aged 43) London, England |
| Occupation |
|
| Alma mater | University of Kent (BA) |
| Years active | 2008–2023 |
| Partner | Rebecca Fuller |
Adam George Brace was born in London on 25 March 1980, to George Brace, an architect, and Nikki (née Sturdy), a floor manager at the BBC.[2] His father died in a bicycle accident several months before his son's birth.[2] Brace attended the University of Kent, where he got a degree in drama.[2] His first jobs included teaching English in South Korea and working as a children's entertainer in Malaysia.[2] He was briefly a journalist for The Irish Post, but was fired after publicly disparaging a film at a Q-and-A held for the press screening.[2] Brace was also a master's student at Goldsmiths, University of London, though sources differ on whether he received a degree.[2][3]
His play Stovepipe, performed in promenade, premiered at the HighTide festival in Suffolk in 2008,[3] before transferring to London for an eight-week run in collaboration with the National Theatre.[4][5] The play is about corporate soldiers and Brace wrote it after a tour of Jordan where he conducted interviews with men in that job. The play was critically acclaimed, receiving numerous five star reviews and being called "rivetingly intelligent"[6] by the Sunday Times and "exhilaratingly convincing[7]' by The Independent. The play was named at number 10 in The Times Top Twenty Plays of the Decade.[8]
Other plays include They Drink It in the Congo (Almeida Theatre, 2016),[3] A Real Humane Person Who Cares And All That,[9] (Edinburgh Fringe, 2008 / Arcola Theatre, 2009).
Brace worked extensively as a director, with credits including Liz Kingsman's One Woman Show at the Ambassadors Theatre, London and Soho Theatre. He also collaborated as a director or script editor with acts including Jessie Cave, Ahir Shah, Ruby Wax and Sh!t Theatre, a theatrical duo consisting Louise Mothersole and his partner, Rebecca Fuller.[3][10]
At the time of Brace's death, he was preparing a Broadway production of his one-man show Just for Us, set to run at the Hudson Theatre in the summer of 2023, with Alex Edelman starring.[2][11]
Brace was in a relationship with stage performer Rebecca Fuller, known by her stage name, Rebecca Biscuit. He died at a hospital in London from complications of a stroke on 29 April 2023, at the age of 43.[2][3]
- "Adam Brace: 'Stand-up directing is hardcore dramaturgy'". The Stage. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
- Coveney, Michael (5 May 2023). "Adam Brace obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
- Sandomir, Richard (7 May 2023). "Adam Brace, Director of Ambitious One-Person Shows, Dies at 43". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
- Archived June 28, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
- Archived June 17, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- "Arts and entertainment". Entertainment.timesonline.co.uk. Retrieved 12 December 2015. (subscription required)
- Bassett, Kate (15 March 2009). "Stovepipe, West 12 Shopping Centre, London | Reviews | Culture". The Independent. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
- "Arts and entertainment". Entertainment.timesonline.co.uk. Retrieved 12 December 2015. (subscription required)
- "Arcola Theatre". Arcola Theatre. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
- "Adam Brace: 'Stand-up directing is hardcore dramaturgy'". The Stage. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
- Hatcher, Kirsty (3 May 2023). "Adam Brace, British Playwright and Director, Dies at 43 — Just Weeks Before His Broadway Debut". People. Retrieved 5 May 2023.