MORE than 60 playwrights have been commissioned to write plays about their home town by leading new writing company Paines Plough. Working in collaboration with theatres and local writers, the company will scale the length of the country calling in at 14 venues across the UK.

The project, Come To Where I’m From, is being led by Paines Plough’s new co-artistic directors, George Perrin and James Grieve and the concept is to support and raise the profile of new playwrights.

George says: “We want to find out what support writers are looking for. At each venue we had a conversation with local writers and we hope to introduce them in a direct and personal way to audiences that might not know their work.“ George and James previously ran nabokov, a Creative Associate of Watford Palace Theatre, who staged the hugely successful 2nd May 1997 last year.

The Hertfordshire local writers for Come To Where I'm From include Bushey resident Adam Taylor, who will join Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, from Watford, Guy Jones, from Toddington and Glyn Maxwell from Welwyn Garden City. These playwrights will be reading their plays at Watford Palace Theatre on Friday, July 9.

I spoke to Adam about his contribution and how he has used the theme to explore his own thoughts of Watford.

The 25-year-old playwright, who attended Bournehall Primary and Parmiters School, has been working with Paines Plough since last year as part of its Channel 4 Future Perfect playwrights scheme.

"We’ve been creating half hour plays for students at Rose Bruford College to perform as part of their final year project,” says Adam. “Paines Plough was the first thing I applied for after I graduated. The first project was a collaborative work called Traces at The North Wall Arts Centre in Oxford. Then we did individual projects such as a monologue at Soho Theatre about Watford that is similar to the format for Come to Where I’m From.”

Adam tells me his play takes the form of a Shakespearean-influenced rap.

“It’s about a group of kids disillusioned after September 11 and the London bombings, who become misguided vigilantes. This piece is entirely in verse and in the style of a rap. It's also influenced by Milton and Shakespeare.”

Adam uses the play to explore his own thoughts of Watford.

“When I was 18 I left for university, before that I enjoyed a lot of things in Watford I wouldn’t enjoy now. I spent time in bars and clubs, but the nightlife is busier these days. Watford’s good in a lot of ways because of the mix of cultures here. It makes for a more vibrant place to go out."

Adam writes and produces his own rap and hip hop music and has performed in the comedy duo Bubble and Squeak at The Hen and Chickens in Islington.

He admits to being nervous about playing in front of the home crowd.

“It’s a bit daunting. My family and friends have come to see everything Ive done and now I’m in my home town saying things I feel about Watford. It’s a very personal thing. I’ve lived here my whole life and I love it. I think that’s the same for everybody, wherever they live.

Adam has ventured further than his own front door, however. He worked as a scaffolder to save enough money to go travelling across Asia, America and Europe.

“I took eight months out and had a journal with me all the time. I tried to write in it most days about my experiences but I’ve not gone back to look at it yet.

It’s influenced this work because I was thinking a lot about the Soho monologue and really trying hard not to cover the same ground again so I decided to write about a journey home to Watford. It’s kind of like when I came back from travelling and I was amazed how much it had changed. It’s also to do with the change in yourself when you come back to a place after a long time away.”

Paines Plough is running two workshops the day before the performance: If It Didn’t Exist, You’d Have to Invent it on Thursday, July 8, 6pm-7.30pm and Producing Plays, Developing Playwrights at 8pm-9.30pm.

Come to Where I’m From is at Watford Palace Theatre as part of Watford Live! on Friday, July 9 at 8pm.

Details: 01923 225671, www.watfordpalacetheatre.co.uk