Liz Duffy Adams is an American playwright who has written many plays includingBorn With Teeth;Or,;Dog Act;The Salonnieres;A Discourse on the Wonders of the Invisible World;The Broken Machine, and others.
Born With Teeth; Or,; Dog Act; The Salonnieres; A Discourse on the Wonders of the Invisible World; The Broken Machine
Her play Born With Teeth won a 2021 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award.[1] She was rewarded the 2012 "Women of Achievement Award" from the Women's Project Theater[2] as well as a 2010 Lily Award and a 2008 Weston Playhouse Music-Theatre Award, among other honors.
Adams is an American playwright originally fromIpswich, Massachusetts, who holds dual Irish and American citizenship.[3] She has a BFA from NYU's Experimental Theater Wing, and an MFA in Playwriting from Yale School of Drama.[4]
She was the 2012–13 Briggs-Copeland Visiting Lecturer in Playwriting at Harvard University.[5] She is an alumna of New Dramatists (2001-2008).[6]
Charles Isherwood wrote in hisNew York Times review of her historical playOr, "Ms. Adams fares remarkably well. Her language has a natural period flavor and a formidable wit; her characters possess the spark of fully animated spirits; and she weaves into her story both biographical detail and cultural context with grace."[7]
In theHouston Chronicle, Robert Donahoo wrote ofBorn with Teeth that it "can’t decide if it is about literature, history, political intrigue, religious persecution, or the wide varieties of love, and that’s a good — no, make that glorious — thing. The play grabs them all and squeezes them into a trim, tight, electric production…. [a] jewel of a script."[8]
TheDC Theatre Scene review of herDiscourse on the Wonders of the Invisible World, by Debbie Minter Jackson, says, "Adams has a way of transforming ominous situations into thought provoking entertaining experiences, and she handles the premise of the Salem witch trials with care that ends up being thoughtful, mysterious, and if I dare say – startlingly funny."[9]
Robert Hurwitt wrote in hisSF Gate review of herDog Act, "It's a bright dystopian blend of pop and high culture –– Brecht's Mother Courage as a vaudeville troupe leader wandering aWaiting for Godot world as transmuted through generations ofMad Max–Road Warrior movies with some lingering influences fromPeter Pan –– peppered with astonishing and exhilarating eruptions of storytelling and wondrous plays within the play."[10]
Awards include a 2021 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award.[1] 2012 Women of Achievement award from theWomen's Project Theater,[19] a 2010 Lily Award for Playwrighting,[20] a 2008 Weston Playhouse Music-Theatre award,[21] a 2006NYFA award, a 2017 Fellowship from the Massachusetts Cultural Council,[22] and the Will Glickman award for Best New Play in 2004 (for Dog Act).[23] She has held residencies at theMacDowell Colony, Millay Colony for the arts, and the Djerassi Resident Artists program. She was profiled inAmerican Theatre Magazine in December 2004.[citation needed]
