Actor, Director and Voice Artist
Christchurch, New Zealand
Over many years of acting, I have worked with directors ranging from the strangely apathetic, through incomprehensible, misguided, enthusiastic, inspired or mad, to the downright tyrannical! I know which enabled me to give my best work. During my years working as a Drama teacher I had plenty of opportunity to practice my skills on groups of all sizes and abilities. As a result, I believe the connection between the actors is the most important thing, and telling actors to stand on a particular spot and just say the lines is not enough!
Now, although I still prefer being a performer, I enjoy working with fine actors to create some magic on stage.
I prefer to work with a very small cast in an intimate setting, while keeping distractions of set, costume etc. to a minimum, to throwing the focus on my actors, and letting them tell the story. I like to work with them almost as a choreographer, producing an emotional 'tango' on stage. My thought being that if they are in the right place with the right mood about them, they cannot help but instinctively create a tangible and watchable emotional link between them on stage. Seems to work, judging by the reviews...
P.S. These shows are available for touring in 2023. For more info on how to book a performance in your venue, please click the box
A Picasso
"The detail and focus built so convincingly from these two actors ensure that what could have been a talk-heavy experience for us is, instead, a gripping duel, at times almost a dance of logic (hers) confronting self-belief (his)."
"What is immediately apparent, though, is that director and cast have created, in this space where artistic enterprise is daily celebrated, another reason to applaud those who refresh the business of theatre making for us." (Theatreview)
"The two of them are valiant in their delivery of this marvellous script; playing a verbal tennis match, handling Jeffrey Hatcher’s exceptional words with care and certainty. Michael Adams’ direction is delicate and direct, nicely playing with the dynamic of tension on stage, both sexual and political." (Backstage)
The Turn of the Screw
"Under intelligent direction from Michael Adams, David Allen and Nataliya Oryshchuk ensure that momentum through seven haunted days and nights is never lost" (Theatreview)
"Without elaborate set...you are invited to create the scenery and the whole world of Bly House. I have vivid images in my head of the nursery, the tower and of the garden and lake. Each theatregoer is allowed, as in a radio play, or a book, to create the worlds themselves." (Theatreview)
"The experience was so absorbing there was complete silence and stillness in the auditorium throughout as we drank in the performances. We left thankful we'd done so. I was still thinking about them three days later." (Oamaru Mail)
"Some of the more powerful interchanges involve one or the other of the actors with their backs turned to the other; it is telling to perceive the clear connection maintained in these exchanges. The quality of the acting and staging of James’ story reaffirms its power to disturb well into its second century" (University of Canterbury)