Tandem is a writing collective established and run by playwrights Jennifer Adam, Amy Hawes and Mhairi Quinn. This new writing showcase celebrates their tenth anniversary, featuring a varied, thoughtfully curated selection of pieces including plays, poetry, prose and music.
As we enter Trav 1, musician Gillian plays her own hauntingly melodic compositions on the piano, creating an atmosphere of expectation. Cunnison plays transition music between each piece as well.
The showcase opens with a short play called The Will of the People, written by Charlotte Smith. A politician (Nicola Roy), and her bodyguard (Jenny Hulse) are waiting for hospital staff to identify a mystery substance thrown at them by a protester. As the scene unfolds, the limits of democracy are exposed. It’s a thoughtful piece that asks some scary questions.
Mairi Quinn performs her poem, Dinnertime at the Royston Road, about seagulls and school dinners. The birds gather, ready to devour the kids’ leftovers, and what a feast it is. A funny, quirky portrait of daily life with lovely details. By the end, I really wanted a bag of chips.
Head Brain, by Jennifer Adam and Benjamin McToy, is performed by Elspeth Turner. It’s part of a trilogy of monologues about how our brains help us survive, and it’s set to an impressively cinematic score. A woman reminisces about her relationship with her mother, who has dementia. Memories of the strong woman who raised her are contrasted with the helplessness of their current situation. The language is poetic, and the pace of the performance, and the music, starts out frantic and urgent. As the woman remembers the happy moments they shared, the music starts to feel like ocean waves, or that moment in a movie where the camera pans out from an intimate scene to reveal a vast landscape. There is an epic quality to this quiet story about changing times.
Non-fiction writer Rebecca Smith reads an extract from her new book, which will probably be called Forest Land – Our Woods and the People that Make Them. It’s a biography of her father, who spent his working life as a forester. She recalls an incident from her childhood, where her parents responded to an emergency in the forest. Smith considers the fragility of memory, which feel “solid”, but become “malleable and slippery”. Forestry is a complex industry that is underrepresented in the media, and Smith’s book will help fill that gap – I’ll certainly read it.
At the end, Grayling steps from the piano, picks up an acoustic guitar, and performs a selection of her songs. She has a warm, gentle voice and her lyrics are heartfelt: “I’ve never felt a rage like this, And I don’t want to carry it”.
I felt the weight of the questions asked by all the pieces, which were written in response to the prompt Growth, Transformation, Change. There are no easy answers here. I was particularly impressed by the actors, who, in scratch night style, had just one hour to rehearse each piece. Director Sarah Rose Graber has drawn out urgent, detailed performances from all of them. I was excited by the creativity and wisdom shown by all the artists here.
Reviewer: Wendy McEwan
Reviewed: 26th September 2026
North West End UK Rating:
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