Theatre Director Adam Karim wins 2024 JMK AWARD

Adam Karim has won the 2024 JMK Award for Guards at the Taj by Rajiv Joseph.

Theatre director Adam Karim has won the 2024 JMK Award and will stage Rajiv Joseph’s 2016 Obie winning play Guards at the Taj. Roisin Jenner will design the show which will receive a full-scale professional production at the Orange Tree Theatre, forming part of their 2024 Autumn programme.

Adam Karim is a freelance theatre director and facilitator. He was most recently Donmar Warehouse Resident Assistant Director 2023 (Clyde’s, When Winston Went To War With The Wireless, Trouble In Butetown).

Set in India, 1648, Guards at the Taj is an audacious, funny and ever-surprising play about friendship, betrayal and power.

The JMK Trust, founded in memory of James Menzies-Kitchin, a young director of great promise who died suddenly and unexpectedly at the age of 28, aims to give opportunities to theatre directors of similar ability and vision.

Each year The JMK Trust gives one prestigious award to enable an outstanding applicant aged 35 or under to create their own production of their choice of text.

Patrons of the trust include: Dame Judi Dench, Baroness Howe, Sir Ian McKellen, Tom Morris OBE (Founding Chair) and Clare Menzies-Kitchin MBE

Adam Karim said today ‘Winning this award feels gigantic for me. I’m honoured and humbled to have been selected from a group of artists I know to be wonderful practitioners. I’d like to thank everyone who has helped me along my directing pathway, everyone at the Bush, the Donmar Warehouse, Paines Plough, thank you for giving me the opportunities to learn my craft.

Guards At The Taj is a special play, investigating a stark choice with humour, hope and tenderness, I think it has only become more relevant over time and I couldn’t be more excited to be bringing this to life with a really fantastic creative team. Special thanks to Roisin Jenner who gave up so much of her time designing our project, and of course to James Menzies-Kitchen whose name this wonderful, life changing opportunity exists to commemorate. See you at the Orange Tree!’

Stephen Fewell, Chair of the JMK Trust, said today, ‘Over the last few years, we’ve become increasingly aware that the array of career pathways for developing artists may be narrowing, so it is wonderful to be able, with enormous support from the Orange Tree Theatre and all those who fund our work, to be announcing Adam as the recipient of the JMK Award. His bold ideas for this challenging and thrilling play will meet audiences this Autumn, and everyone can support his work by booking now!’

Tom Littler, Artistic Director of the OT, added ‘In a very competitive field of over a hundred and fifty applicants, Adam stood out for his clear-eyed vision for this superb play, and for his abundant ability to work with actors to create something special. We’re excited to produce his Guards at the Taj this autumn.’

Director Sam Woof and designer Natalie Johnson were awarded runners up prizes for their work on Colder than Here by Laura Wade.

Previous winners of the JMK Award have become major players in British theatre, including Thea Sharrock (Wicked Little Letters), Orla O’Loughlin, Bijan Sheibani (Till the Stars Come Down, The Cord), Natalie Abrahami (Queen Anne), Roy Alexander Weise (The Hot Wing King, Untitled F*ck M*ss S**gon Play), Kate Hewitt (Plenty), Polly Findlay (Assassins, Alma Mater,White Noise, A Number, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie), and Tristan Fynn-Aiduenu (For Black Boys Who Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy?, New Diorama production).