Pam Gems was a British playwright

Playwright

A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...

. The author of numerous original plays, as well as of adaptations of works by major European playwrights of the past, Gems is best known for the 1978 musical play

Play (theatre)

A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...

 Piaf

Piaf (play)

Piaf is a play by Pam Gems that focuses on the life and career of French chanteuse Edith Piaf. The biographical drama with music portrays the singer in a most unflattering light...

.

Personal life

Iris Pamela Price was born in Bransgore

Bransgore

Bransgore is a village and parish within the New Forest District, Hampshire, UK. The village developed in the 19th century when a church and a school were built...

, Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

, and had her first play – a tale of goblins and elves – staged when she was eight by her fellow pupils at primary school.
She studied psychology at Manchester University

University of Manchester

The University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...

 from which she graduated in 1949. She was in her forties when she started to write professionally. She is best known for her 1978 musical play

Play (theatre)

A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...

 Piaf about French singer Édith Piaf

Édith Piaf

Édith Piaf , born Édith Giovanna Gassion, was a French singer and cultural icon who became widely regarded as France's greatest popular singer. Her singing reflected her life, with her specialty being ballads...

.

She was nominated for two Tony Award

Tony Award

The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...

s: for Stanley

Stanley (play)

Stanley is a 1996 play written by English playwright, Pam Gems. The play was premiered at the Royal National Theatre's Cottesloe Theatre in London.-Plot synopsis:...

(Best Play) in 1997, and for Marlene (Best Book of a Musical), starring Siân Phillips

Siân Phillips

Jane Elizabeth Ailwên "Siân" Phillips, CBE, is a Welsh actress.-Early life:Phillips was born in Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, Neath Port Talbot, Wales, the daughter of Sally , a teacher, and David Phillips, a steelworker-turned-policeman...

 as Marlene Dietrich

Marlene Dietrich

Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...

, in 1999. Gems adapted works by dramatists ranging from Henrik Ibsen

Henrik Ibsen

Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...

, Federico García Lorca

Federico García Lorca

Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca was a Spanish poet, dramatist and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27. He is believed to be one of thousands who were summarily shot by anti-communist death squads...

 and Anton Chekhov

Anton Chekhov

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...

 to Marguerite Duras

Marguerite Duras

Marguerite Donnadieu, better known as Marguerite Duras was a French writer and film director.-Background:...

.

Family

She married architect Keith Gems; the couple had four children. Her husband and children survive her.

List of works

The Early Plays, (1972-1976)

(work, year, place first produced)

• Betty's Wonderful Christmas (1972), Cockpit Theatre, London
• My Warren And After Birthday (1973), Almost Free Theatre, London
• Miz Venus and Wild Bill (1973), Almost Free Theatre, London
• After Birthday (1973)
• The Amiable Courtship Of Miz Venus And Wild Bill (1974), Almost Free Theatre, London
• Go West Young Woman (1974), The Roundhouse
  The Roundhouse
  The Roundhouse is a Grade II* listed former railway engine shed in Chalk Farm, London, England, which has been converted into a performing arts and concert venue. It was originally built in 1847 as a roundhouse , a circular building containing a railway turntable, but was only used for railway...
  
  , London
• Up In Sweden (1975), Haymarket, Leicester
• My Name Is Rosa Luxembourg (adaptation), (1975)
• Up In Sweden (1975)
• Rivers and Forests (adaptation), (1976)
• Dead Fish (aka Dusa, Fish, Stas And Vi; 1976), Edinburgh Festival
• Guinevere (1976), Edinburgh Festival
• The Project (1976), Soho Poly, London
• Dusa Fish Stas and Vi (1976), Edinburgh Festival

The Middle Plays, (1977-2000)

• Franz Into April (1977), ICA
  Institute of Contemporary Arts
  The Institute of Contemporary Arts is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. It is located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch...
  
  , London
• Queen Christina (1977), Other Place, Stratford-on-Avon
• Piaf
  Piaf (play)
  Piaf is a play by Pam Gems that focuses on the life and career of French chanteuse Edith Piaf. The biographical drama with music portrays the singer in a most unflattering light...
  
  (1978), Other Place, Stratford-on-Avon
• Ladybird, Ladybird (1979), The King's Head
  The King's Head Theatre
  The King's Head Theatre, founded in 1970 by Dan Crawford, is an Off-West End venue in London. It was the first pub theatre in the UK. Adam Spreadbury-Maher became Artistic Director in March 2010 .-Background:...
  
  , Islington, London
• Sandra (1979), London
• Aunt Mary (1982), Warehouse Theatre, London
• The Treat (1982), ICA
  Institute of Contemporary Arts
  The Institute of Contemporary Arts is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. It is located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch...
  
  , London
• The Cherry Orchard (adaptation) (1984)
• Variety Night (1982), London
• Camille (adaptation) (1984)
• Loving Women (1984)
• The Danton Affair (1986)
• Pasionaria (1985), Playhouse Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne
• Arther and Guinevere (1990), Edinburgh
• The Seagull
  The Seagull
  The Seagull is the first of what are generally considered to be the four major plays by the Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov. The Seagull was written in 1895 and first produced in 1896...
  
  (adaptation) (1991)
• The Blue Angel (1991), Other Place, Stratford-on-Avon
• Deborah's Daughter (1994), Manchester
• Ghosts (adaptation) (1994)
• Marlene (1996), Oldham
• Stanley
  Stanley (play)
  Stanley is a 1996 play written by English playwright, Pam Gems. The play was premiered at the Royal National Theatre's Cottesloe Theatre in London.-Plot synopsis:...
  
  (1996), London
• At the Window (1997)
• The Snow Palace (1998)
• Ebba (1999)

The Late Plays (2000-)

• Girabaldi, Si! (2000)
• Linderhof (2001)
• Mrs Pat (2002), Theatre Royal, York
• Yerma
  Yerma
  Yerma is a play by the Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. It was written in 1934, and first performed that same year. Lorca describes the play as "a tragic poem."-Plot:...
  
  (adaptation) (2003), Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester
• Not Joan the Musical (2003)
• The Lady From The Sea (adaptation) (2003), Almeda Theatre London
• The Little Mermaid (adaptation) (2004), Greenwich Theatre, Riverside Theatre, London
• Nelson (2004), Nuffield Theatre, Southampton
• Broadway Lady (2007)
• Piaf (2008), Donmar Warehouse, London
• Winterlove (2009), The Drill Hall, London
• Despatches (2009), The Drill Hall, London

External links