On the stage, Adams' first role was in 1935 at the Embassy Theatre in "Stevedore", in which Robeson played the hero and which was enthusiastically reviewed by Nancy Cunard in "The Crisis": "This production of "Stevedore" has brought to light a fine new personality, on the stage for the first time: Robert Adams, Negro of British Guiana, well known otherwise as "'Black Eagle,' wrestler. He plays 'Blacksnake.' An extraordinarily fine, a natural-born actor, who should without fail find other good parts and work on the screen as well, for even a merely intelligent producer – but I wish him the best, Sergei Eisenstein." Another early role was as Jean-Jacques Dessalines in the 1936 play "Toussaint Louverture - The story of the only successful slave revolt in history" by C. L. R. James, again alongside Robeson and also other notable actors including Orlando Martins and Harry Andrews. Adams went on to take the lead in a television adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's "The Emperor Jones". The role of Brutus Jones, a Pullman porter who becomes the ruler of a Caribbean island, had already been played by Robeson on stage and screen. The BBC's version was transmitted live from Alexandra Palace on 11 May 1938, and Adams became the first black actor to play a leading dramatic role on British television; another BBC appearance that year was in W. B. Yeats' "Deirdre". Adams also appeared in Geoffrey Trease's "Colony" (1939), which was about the exploitation of sugar workers in a Caribbean island.