Tony Award-winning playwright David Adjmi will finally graduate from the University of Iowa this May.
Adjmi attended the UI from 1998 to 2001 but quickly found success off campus and never completed his degree. While in Iowa City, he worked on readings and productions with guest artists around the community. Arthur Borreca, co-director of the Playwrights Workshop, recalls working with Adjmi around this time.
“David was always exceptionally talented and had a strong voice as a writer,” Borreca said. “His work got a lot of professional attention even when he was a student.”
Once Adjmi’s professional career took off, his plays were produced internationally. Some of his most notable works include “Strange Attractors,” “Marie Antoinette,” and “Stereophonic.”
A production of “Marie Antoinette” was held at Hancher Auditorium last semester, at the same time “Stereophonic” won the Tony Award for Best Play in 2024. “Stereophonic” became the most Tony-nominated play of all time.
Right around when “Stereophonic” was making a splash, Adjmi reached out to UI faculty about completing his degree.
Borecca remembered questioning why Adjmi needed the degree at this point in his career. Despite fielding questions, Adjmi was determined.
“I always intended to get my degree somehow,” Adjmi said. “It’s a huge part of my identity and growth as an artist.”
Adjmi described himself as unceremonious, often not even taking the time to celebrate his birthday. More recently, however, he’s felt a stronger appeal toward documents and diplomas.
Decades after first attending, Adjmi still holds the UI in high regard.
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“Iowa is not New York City, which is where I’m from,” Adjmi said. “That gave me a feeling of freedom, like there was something stealthy and secret about making work where I could experiment and have my own laboratory. That was very exciting for me.”
Although Adjmi took time to adjust from NYC’s frenetic pace to Iowa City’s softer tempo, he came to appreciate how it forced him to slow down.
“It got me more in tune with myself as a person and an artist,” Adjmi said. “The program itself was quite rigorous, but there was also a very gentle touch. There was an understanding that we were all emerging young artists trying to figure ourselves out, and very miraculous patience and faith in the process.”
Adjmi also spoke to what it means to be a successful artist in the modern world, where praise, awards, negative reviews and derision occur, often in equal measure.
“If you can fully come to value what art is and what it means to be an artist, and what your service is to the world, the other stuff falls away,” Adjmi said. “I’m not saying we don’t need validation and praise, but there’s a kind of sovereignty and independence that every great artist has to cultivate not just to have fortitude to keep going but to bring a laser specificity to your vision without worrying about consequences.”
With his eyes on the horizon, Adjmi already has more projects in the works. In addition to rehearsing the West End production of “Stereophonic,” he’s concurrently writing a film adaptation. Several other film and stage projects are in development too, including an exciting play titled “The Blind King.”
“I’m just looking for interesting projects,” Adjmi said. “I’d like to work between film and TV, but I don’t want to just take anything.”