REVIEWS
“Toossi, the California-born daughter of Iranian immigrants, and her director Knud Adams — who directed the play’s co-production world premiere between Atlantic Theater Company and Roundabout Theatre Company in New York and again at Studio Theatre in Washington, D.C. — have the keen understanding to allow these characters to find their respective voices; speak for themselves often with a silence that speaks volumes.”
Jeffrey Borak, Berkshire Eagle – ENGLISH (Barrington)
“Barrington Stage Company finishes a stellar season with its final mainstage offering, an insightful and nuanced production of English, which ran off-Broadway last year and five months ago won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.”
Steve Barnes, Albany Times Union – ENGLISH (Barrington)
“The cast works beautifully together, well directed by Adams, and likely enhanced by the presence of Toossi in an intense, emotional role.”
Paula Kaplan-Reiss, Berkshire On Stage – ENGLISH (Barrington)
“A fine production with dozens of little touches that almost pass unseen. His creative team here has worked to continue his process of presenting an excellent play in a perfect way.”
J. Peter Bergman, Berkshire Bright Focus – ENGLISH (Barrington)
“It’s a play you savor and remember…. All are expert in their individual performances. Guided by director Knud Adams they form a genuine extended family.”
Bob Goepfert, The Saratogian – ENGLISH (Barrington)
[PICK OF THE WEEK] “Quietly powerful production holds human connection close to its heart.”
Carli Scolforo, Berkshires Week – ENGLISH (Barrington)
[Critic’s Pick] “William Jackson Harper performs with astonishing ease and vulnerability… Knud Adams’s graceful production resembles a miniaturized model of a provincial square… The play on perspective and proportion, with people as tall as buildings, enhances the undertones in Booth’s work that question who, and what, we pay attention to and why.”
Naveen Kumar, The New York Times – PRIMARY TRUST
“Director Knud Adams (English) continues his run as a pitch-perfect distiller of dramatic essence, working with the dreamiest of dream casts. The restraint in Booth’s script, added to Harper’s immense gift for clarity and stillness and a director keeping the ensemble on the edge of comedy and despair—it works… Primary Trust restores your faith in theater’s elemental storytelling powers, how it helps us be alone together.”
David Cote, Observer – PRIMARY TRUST
“New York City’s best new play—truly, it is five-star exceptional, book a ticket right now—is happening off-Broadway… Primary Trust, as beautifully written by Eboni Booth as it is directed by Knud Adams, is a 95-minute, intermissionless, buffed-to-gleaming jewel.”
Tim Teeman, Daily Beast – PRIMARY TRUST
“Knud Adams directs inspiring performances that are loaded with extraordinary detail. He has also wisely chosen a most unusual environment in which to tell Booth’s story… Adams’ direction is as mercurial as Harper’s performance, and together, they keep us guessing as to what happens next.”
Robert Hofler, The Wrap – PRIMARY TRUST
[Highbrow/Brilliant] “William Jackson Harper’s winning performance in the sensitively written Primary Trust.”
Dominique Pariso and Chris Stanton, New York Magazine – PRIMARY TRUST
“Eboni Booth’s comedy-drama is so disarmingly gentle in spirit, and populated by sympathetic characters, that it feels like a throwback—the size of a Hail Mary pass (successful)—to another theatrical era… Directed with a gossamer touch by Knud Adams.”
Charles Isherwood, The Wall Street Journal – PRIMARY TRUST
“Extraordinary performances and this fogbound atmosphere are the show’s chief pleasures: every detail has been tended to, from the reduced-scale Main Street set to the way that Sanders, popping up as a French waiter, blows out a match. Puff! He makes a miniature production around a dying light.”
Helen Shaw, The New Yorker – PRIMARY TRUST
“Adams, who last season staged Mosaic Theater Company’s engrossing tech-world dramedy “Private” — and a compelling version of “English” for off-Broadway’s Atlantic Theater Company — shows a deep affinity for Toossi’s work in this second go with the play. Their collaboration is itself a textbook case of playwright and director communicating in a dynamic common language, one that, for lovers of potent theater, needs no translation.”
Peter Marks, The Washington Post – ENGLISH (D.C.)
“Adams’ staging retains a natural and intimate quality throughout.”
Jakob Cansler, DC Theater Arts – ENGLISH (D.C.)
“The play's directorial style is never handled in a "heavy-handed" or reactionary manner. Director Knud Adams focused on the idiosyncrasies of the characters in an almost Chekhovian style… The Studio Theatre's production of English is an illuminating look into the language of linguistics and human connection.”
David Friscic, Broadway World – ENGLISH (D.C.)
“The directorial choices by Knud Adams are smart and engaging… The production of “English” at Studio Theatre is an incredible display of how language and identity are connected and is highly recommended.”
Camron Wright, MD Theatre Guide – ENGLISH (D.C.)
“A heartbreaking excavation of missed connections and fractured identities... Director Knud Adams ably takes on this challenge, infusing short lines and even silences with an emotionally suggestive quality.”
Nathan Pugh, dcist – ENGLISH (D.C.)
“Gracie Gardner’s bleak, funny drama, at the Atlantic Theatre Company, is all about clearly defined edges… It’s a relief that Knud Adams’s customarily gorgeous production makes it so rewarding to lean into the microscope and observe.”
Helen Shaw, The New Yorker – I’M REVOLTING
[★★★★, RECOMMENDED] “Director Knud Adams's humanistic touch ensures that there's rarely a false note.”
Raven Snook, Time Out New York – I’M REVOLTING“Gardner, Adams, and all the performers capture the ebb and flow of gallows humor, trauma, mundanity, and pivotal decision-making of the day with precision. In its focus on a group of people who are on varying edges and turning points, it reminded this critic—in structure and composition—of the Atlantic’s last much-deserved success, English. They are not the same play thematically, but both are beautifully written and directed character studies—both singular and collective.”
Tim Teeman, The Daily Beast – I’M REVOLTING
[★★★★] “Masterful acting and direction make I'm Revolting well worth a trip… The show's 90 minutes fly, thanks to Knud Adams's lively direction… For anyone else looking for sharp comedy, genuinely shocking dramatic twists, and excellent performances, I'm Revolting is a must-see.”
Gillian Russo, New York Theatre Guide – I’M REVOLTING
[★★★★] “With a seasoned cast under director Knud Adams, this intriguing dramedy poses bigger questions about self-worth, identity, and what we need from each other and ourselves in times of crisis… Adams keeps the actors present and active, and supportive design choices lend the action momentum.
Nicole Seratorre, The Stage – I’M REVOLTING
“The director, Knud Adams, orchestrates his actors with masterly precision, switching from laughter to loss with the lightest of touches. He also gets extremely apt work from his design team.”
David Barbour, Lighting and Sound America – I’M REVOLTING“Knud Adams directs with a laser focus on the grand impact of minutiae—for a play that deals with a growing alienation of one’s body, he knows to home in on changes in physicality and connection among the characters.”
Cameron Kelsall, parterre box – I’M REVOLTING
“Adams’ direction, similar to that of his acclaimed work on English earlier this year, gets the most out of his actors and his staging is realistic and unfussy.”
Victor Gluck, Theater Scene – I’M REVOLTING
[Critic’s Pick] “Hanks has a dry, tart tone that is well served by the director Knud Adams. He wrings finely tuned performances from the excellent cast and never oversells the comedy, letting a raised eyebrow, a side glance or a throwaway line do a lot of work.”
Elisabeth Vincentelli, The New York Times – BODIES THEY RITUAL
“The production elements of Bodies They Ritual are predictably excellent... Adams, too, does excellent work with the ensemble, perfectly capturing in tone the relationships among the women.”
Loren Noveck, Exeunt – BODIES THEY RITUAL“One of the most electrifying new works I have seen on any stage… The pacing and timing in this show are astonishing. It is a precise and complex score — from staccato crosstalk to a raging aria of a monologue to voids of silence so full of unspoken feeling it almost aches — and kudos for conducting it go to director Knud Adams.”
John Stoltenberg, DC Theater Arts – PRIVATE
“This sizzling one-act is a compact exploration of the increasingly nasty Big Tech habit of reaching into corners of lives in which it has no business nosing. Staged with muscular authority by Knud Adams.”
Peter Marks, The Washington Post – PRIVATE[★★★★, Editor’s Pick] “Director Knud Adams’ brilliant world-premiere production conveys the play’s points that the future is now.”
André Hereford, Metro Weekly – PRIVATE[Critic’s Pick] “Director Knud Adams gently underlines the calm, almost classical rhythms of Toossi’s writing. Chopinesque piano solos play between scenes. As the play contemplates the question of language from several angles, the cube-like set, by Marsha Ginsberg, slowly rotates, offering in turn a street view of the building, the classroom interior and an entry portico. The cast is uniformly excellent, in a suitably unshowy but fully lived-in way.”
Jesse Green, The New York Times – ENGLISH
“Mounted impeccably by director Knud Adams.”
Peter Marks, The Washington Post – ENGLISH
“Toossi’s play frequently delights in the infelicities of imperfect speech, it’s never cruel.”
Alexandra Schwartz, The New Yorker – ENGLISH
“An exquisitely written, performed, and directed play… Few are the standout gems — those plays that appear, shimmer, and conquer an audience so wholly you feel a delicious, building two-way crackle in the room as a performance progresses.”
Tim Teeman, The Daily Beast – ENGLISH
“Knud Adams directs with a sharp eye for schoolroom silliness that can escalate into real-life tension.”
Juan A. Ramirez, Theatrely – ENGLISH
“Director Adams and cast handled that intricate challenge, as they’ve handled everything else, with full authority.”
David Finkle, New York Stage Review – ENGLISH
[⭑⭑⭑⭑⭑] “Knud Adams beautifully directs the world premiere from Atlantic Theater Company and Roundabout Theatre Company with a fluid assurance.”
Naveen Kumar, New York Theatre Guide – ENGLISH
“Under the direction of Knud Adams, the tone of the play, at first light-hearted and amusing, becomes increasingly personal, introspective, and troubled, as the skillful cast of five slowly reveals the distinctive positions and thoughts of the characters to one another.”
Deb Miller, DC Metro Theater Arts – ENGLISH
“Under Knud Adams’ careful direction, English reveals itself to be an exquisitely crafted production.”
Ran Xia, Did They Like It – ENGLISH
“Director Knud Adams matches Toossi step by well-paced step, drawing concise, layered performances from each of the actors… English is must-see theater. An expertly written, thought-provoking examination of the relationship between language and identity (and so much more), beautifully acted and sensitively directed.”
Sarah Downs, Front Row Center – ENGLISH
“Knud Adams directs with a firm caress, letting dramatic beats flow organically from an appealing ensemble.”
David Cote, Observer – ENGLISH
[The 10 Best Theater Moments of 2020] “Director Knud Adams is always fastidious, and here his icy perfectionism exactly matched the writer’s cinematic naturalism: It was so rich in detail, audiences could feel the Vermont cold from their seats in New York. The performances were also all stupendous, and I dream that this production might return after the shutdown.”
Helen Shaw, New York Magazine – PARIS
[7 Shows I Wish I Could Watch in My Living Room] “Eboni Booth's off-Broadway playwriting debut was one of my favorite shows of 2020… Paris takes a hard look at the realities of this undercompensated and underappreciated line of work.”
Zachary Stewart, TheaterMania – PARIS
[Critic's Pick] "Beautifully directed by Knud Adams, with (Josh) Hamilton in a rowboat in a gray shirt against a gray sky, it’s really just an expertly delivered list of pandemic deprivations that eventually become indistinguishable from life’s: street fairs, Times Square, youth."
Jesse Greene, The New York Times – ‘ONE ROOM’ Online Monologues"Elegantly directed by Knud Adams, Christopher Chen’s ingeniously constructed new drama—a novel blend of twisty whodunnit, family mystery, immigrant tale, and memory play—finds ample humor early on, in the contrast between Henry’s upbeat affability and his grim hobby, but then turns unexpectedly and profoundly haunting. The design elements all work in satisfying unity."
Rollo Romig, The New Yorker – THE HEADLANDS
"The picture itself is key to this LCT3 production, sleekly directed by Knud Adams… Images flicker, regroup, disappear, return. What seems like documentary evidence may be merely a trick of light in air."
Jesse Greene, The New York Times – THE HEADLANDS
[★★★★] "This is not a production for the faint-of-heart. It’s a hard-hitting family drama that deals with tough issues. It’s real and it’s fascinating. But it’s not easy."
Donna Herman, New York Theatre Guide – THE HEADLANDS
"Knud Adams’ handsome production — with atmospheric lighting (by Mark Barton) and penetrating projections (by Ruey Horng Sun) that alternately illuminate and obfuscate Kimie Nishikawa’s gray-walled bare set — had me hanging on every twist and turn of the strikingly complex plot."
Cameron Kelsall, Exeunt – THE HEADLANDS
“Director Knud Adams frames the production like a horror movie. He has thought carefully about the way our eyes move through David Zinn’s photorealistic set, so that the spaces, even empty, throb with menace. Each element has this cinematic precision.”
Helen Shaw, New York Magazine – PARIS
“Booth’s beautifully executed drama is an exercise in careful characterization, exquisite pacing.”
Helen Shaw, New York Magazine’s 14 great things to do in NYC – PARIS
“…realistically acted, astutely written play, which is directed with a very even hand by Knud Adams.”
Ben Brantley, The New York Times – PARIS
[★★★★, Recommended] “There’s an easy rhythm to director Knud Adams’s subtly brilliant production that cloaks Paris in a guise of lightness. But the truth lies in wait like a box cutter in the dark.”
Naveen Kumar, Time Out New York – PARIS
[★★★★] “Percolates at a slow and even pace, under the sure direction of Knud Adams, as it establishes the plight of each of its seven characters.”
Stanford Friedman, New York Theater Guide – PARIS
A “lean and impressive debut play… Each character is both sharply written and played.”
Tim Teeman, Daily Beast – PARIS
[BEST BET] "Nylon is a rare treat. This is intimate black (or in this case white) box theatre at its best. It’s a joy to watch this excellent five-person ensemble up close and personal… Director Knud Adams wisely makes the experience an uber-intimate one by cutting the TheaterLab space in half, thereby creating an extremely shallow playing space. The piece feels less like a play and more like an examination of five characters under a microscope.”
Ken Kaissar, Theater is Easy – NYLON
[★★★★] "Like flies on the wall to both aggressive and tender moments, what director Knud Adams achieves is mirroring in the audience a similar feeling of suffocation and inescapable angst that our protagonist Anna is grappling with on stage.”
Nicole Cardoni, Plays to See – NYLON
"Marie and Bruce is a grueling experience for artists and audiences alike. But if you were going to revive it, Adams, Hammel, and Landenberger are the artistic team you’d want."
Miriam Felton-Dansky, Village Voice – MARIE AND BRUCE
"An excellent production... Directed by Knud Adams, the production moves confidently through its paces and makes clever use of the various nooks and crannies of the theater itself."
Dan O'Neil, Culturebot – MARIE AND BRUCE
"Mr. Adams has demonstrated his touch with off-kilter comedy in such plays as 'Tin Cat Shoes' and 'The Workshop.'"
Elisabeth Vincentelli, New York Times – MARIE AND BRUCE
"Entertainment that feels custom-made for a “school’s out” state of mind... With a lesser cast and design team the ingredients of Tin Cat Shoes might not seem quite as fresh or tasty. But it’s hard to resist the eccentric top spin that these performers so happily put on their lines."
Ben Brantley, New York Times – TIN CAT SHOES
[★★★★, Recommended] "The cast, direction, and design are top-notch... Tin Cat Shoes is a delight in three acts."
Helen Shaw, Time Out New York – TIN CAT SHOES
"The kind of candid introspection many of us should be undertaking — though probably funnier and sweeter than most of ours would be... Behind Bent is a gorgeous set, designed by Adams."
Miriam Felton-Dansky, Village Voice – ALOHA, ALOHA, OR WHEN I WAS QUEEN
"A smart, funny exploration of cultural appropriation in the tradition of the great solo performers... It’s rare in this genre to think about design, but Aloha, Aloha’s production is visually delightful in its simplicity."
Theatre is Easy – ALOHA, ALOHA, OR WHEN I WAS QUEEN
"The play is a monologue, which Mr. Adams has smartly double cast with actors who speak different passages of the text — an approach that heightens the production’s already pitched surreality but also the implication that this reckless, narcissistic disaster of a human being is in some ways us... Is it brutal, discomfiting and truly gross? Absolutely. But in a production this spot on, that’s not a bad thing at all."
Laura Collins-Hughes, New York Times – ASSHOLE
"Thanks to Knud Adams' nimble direction, Asshole may leave you without an appetite for the rest of the evening, but is a sure-fire, thought-provoking piece."
Theatre Is Easy – ASSHOLE
[Critic's Pick] "An incisive and insightful tale of ambition and envy, inspiration and mediocrity... Knud Adams craftily uses the tight confines to create and sustain tension, and the actors portraying the students are all excellent."
Elizabeth Vincentelli, New York Times – THE WORKSHOP
[★★★★, Recommended] "Well-performed [and] bracingly cynical... Knud Adams’s intimate production tucks us close enough that we can smell the spilled coffee."
Helen Shaw, Time Out New York – THE WORKSHOP
"One hell of an evening of theater. Directed with a deft and unaffected hand by Knud Adams and featuring a shattering central performance by Austin Pendleton."
Sara Holdren, Vulture – THE WORKSHOP
[VOICE CHOICE] "The intimate, tight-focus staging by director Knud Adams in the lobby of the HB Playwrights Theater is perfectly scaled: 41 audience members on bleachers mere feet away from squirming students and bloviating prof... The young ensemble is appealing and precise in their character typing, and Pendleton does Pendleton — the elvish, shambolic shaman — surpassingly well."
David Cote, Village Voice – THE WORKSHOP
"In true pulp fashion, Jarcho and director Knud Adams are in thrall to their cinematic inspirations, and there are enough training montages (à la Nikita) set to pulsing German pop (à la Run Lola Run) to content the fiercest heart."
Helen Shaw, Time Out New York – EVERY ANGEL IS BRUTAL
"Directed with apparent glee by Knud Adams... Played with taut energy by the excellent ensemble."
New York Theatre Review – EVERY ANGEL IS BRUTAL
"Director Knud Adams keeps the elements of past and present, multiple settings, and many characters in balance for this production successfully. The transitions are seamless and flowing."
In the Spotlight – MY JANE
"Knud Adams has given the play ease and flow... a splendid foray into the craft of theater combined with the depth of the classics."
Berkshire Bright Focus – MY JANE
"The two paths converge in a theatrical prism – a keenly observed, hugely entertaining adventure in the Book World."
Valley Advocate – MY JANE
"Adams' choreography of physical shifts for his actors was in tune to the poetry of his playwright’s text. Adams capitalized on the power of body language. It told the story stronger than you could imagine."
Theater in the Now – TOM & ELIZA
"Delicately directed by Knud Adams, all of Song’s bleak humor and rapid dialogue converges into an engrossing and intimate experience."
Theatre is Easy – TOM & ELIZA
"Directed and designed with a tight focus by Knud Adams, Adams leaves no room for the audience to check out of the story."
New York Theatre Review – TOM & ELIZA
"Director Knud Adams stages the hospital scenes with carefully observed realism... Martin’s “Typhoid Mary” memories grow increasingly surreal as his symptoms turn worse. Knud stages these moments with heightened theatricality, culminating in the climatic final tableau."
Theater Online – AN INTIMATE EVENING WITH TYPHOID MARY
"As surprisingly tender as it is eerie."
Theater is Easy – AN INTIMATE EVENING WITH TYPHOID MARY
"The real triumph of An Intimate Evening with Typhoid Mary was the production design. Director Knud Adams organized a strong team to lift the script onto the stage."
Theater in the Now – AN INTIMATE EVENING WITH TYPHOID MARY
"As directed by Knud Adams, a director with enormous talent, this double-bill performance is seemingly staged effortlessly, fluidly moving from solo, trios and duets on the theme of love, then suddenly transforming into the late night game show without missing a beat. The performances are top notch across the board."
New York Theatre Review – LOVEPLAY/PLAYMONEY
“A lovely production. Thanks to Knud Adams' well-conceived and executed staging and a winning ensemble, the play is tremendously affecting and also extremely funny.”
CurtainUp – BODY AWARENESS
[★★★★★] "An engrossing and polished revival... Adams demonstrates an acute empathy with Baker's work with this sweet and loving production."
Examiner.com – BODY AWARENESS
"It is the perfect intimate venue for this fine production, directed by Knud Adams. He has assembled a heart-breakingly perfect cast who bring these quirky characters warmly to life on Travis A. George’s beautiful all white set, neatly framed, and reframed, in blonde wood. You can smell Joyce’s 'winter soup' simmering on the stove."
Berkshire On Stage – BODY AWARENESS
"Through the astute direction of Knud Adams, the idiosyncrasies’ of each of the characters are unveiled, mostly with kindness and understanding, and always with humor."
In the Spotlight – BODY AWARENESS
"Knud Adams’ production is nicely balanced, allowing the playwright’s multiple ambiguities to just be. I particularly admired his willingness to draw out the pauses in conversations until just past the point of discomfort—which is where the characters in this play live."
Valley Advocate – BODY AWARENESS
"Knud Adams has given a rhythm to the internal rhyme scheme of Baker’s plot. She has provided the Christmas tree-like bones of the play with some nice conversational decorations, but Adams has woven in the lights and colors with his clever juxtapositions of people and props."
Berkshire Bright Focus – BODY AWARENESS
"Adams and his team do a brilliant job of creating a textured and detailed setting that utterly transports us out of one of the empty white boxes at Theatrelab on 14th street... Sharp writing and direction distinguish Adams as one to watch in the indie theater circuit, and hopefully beyond."
Uptown Flavor – BODY AWARENESS
"Children of the Future Age is meant to be enjoyed as a unique, multi-level, theatrical experience. With very limited seating running along the perimeter of the space, being in the audience feels like sitting inside of an art installation. You are in the characters’ apartment, right in their private space as they fight, get hurt and get inspired... Buy a ticket in advance and catch it while you can."
NYTheatre – CHILDREN OF THE FUTURE AGE
"Using the confines of the black-box 13th Street Theater to maximum advantage, director Knud Adams added elements all too familiar to New Yorkers conversant with the Occupy Wall Street protests."
Superconductor – CARMEN
"The ensemble work is effective and well rehearsed with each individual blending with the others while still maintaining the strength of each individual character. The choreography is exciting and integrated smoothly into the story... Artfully directed by Knud Adams, there is never a lapse of momentum or focus."
Woman Around Town – CARMEN