"sweet, sexy, neurotic friendly."

—The New York Timeshe New York Times

"With Nerve, playwright Adam Szymkowicz ventures into the minefield that is online dating and emerges with a wickedly entertaining and darkly comic romance. Cyber-dating may be rife with tales of nightmarish encounters with neurotics and sociopaths, Szymkowicz seems to say, but don't sociopaths deserve love, too? Anyone who sees Nerve will be inclined to say yes. "

—OffOffOnline.com

"…frequently laugh-out-loud funny, and in the end a neat little demonstration, if you needed one, of how much better live theatre can be than TV or movies when it comes to convincingly recreating human relationships in all their delicious complexity.”

—The Gothamist

“a first-rate production of Szymkowicz's dark, quirky comedy.” 

—Miami Herald

“Nerve illustrates the hopefulness of people who've been hurt before, who keep looking for the one person who will love them and stick by them in spite of the fact that they're clingy or obsessive or just plain weird. Nerve is ultimately an uplifting play, and the Naked Stage production is funny and entertaining.”

—Miami Art Zine

“This is a well-crafted and tight little show (it runs about an hour), that's thoroughly engaging…The Echo Theatre Company's production of Nerve is essential viewing. It's incredibly funny, and you'll have the opportunity to see a pair of terrific performers.” 

—Broadway World (St. Louis)

“So much ground is covered during this brief piece, it's as if the script is trying to compress the evolution of an entire relationship into one hour…On this spare set that is little more than two chairs and a table, beer bottles assume unexpected importance. For Elliot they are a kind of life preserver, something to clutch as he treads the dark waters of dating. As this no-man's-land of a tabletop becomes cluttered with bottles, Susan and Elliot are forced to emerge from their protected lairs on either side of the table. As they move ever closer to each other, we in the audience move closer to them.” 

—River Front Times

“Playwright Szymkowicz keeps the impossible relationship alive with wild, honest disagreement and funny, funny misunderstandings all the way through. I completely understand that the fact that it's all crammed into one single hour might initially make it seem like a gyp to the ticket-buying public. But the sheer work-load and any and all outside distractions being utterly removed in favor of clever, fast-talking back-and-forth, makes an indelible comic impression, no matter the length.” 

—Talkin’ Broadway (St. Louis)T

“This is what one wants from the stage: our world reflected with such singularity that we see its strangeness afresh, with unexpected richness and depth… This is very much a play of its times, by, for, and about today’s instant-access generation. Subject matter touched upon, besides computer dating, includes tattoos, piercings, bondage, cutting, bathroom sex, stalking, restraining orders, antidepressants, suicide hotlines — oh, and love everlasting. But this list tells you little about Nerve, a play that bravely, incisively slices through such superficial features to reveal what lurks beneath.” 

—Mountain XpressT

“Nerve's quick-witted dialogue is reminiscent of the banter heard in the romantic film comedies of yesterday, but the play boasts a modern sensibility . A multi- discipline work that incorporates charmingly bizarre dance sequences (Karen Getz's over-the-top choreography is hilarious) and puppetry, Szymkowicz balances the line between fantasy and reality & Szymkowicz has a keen ear for dialogue and is an expert at capturing not only the tension, but also the highs and lows of a first date & The play's conclusion (which manages to be sweet without being sappy) is immensely satisfying...” 

—Philadelphia WeeklyT

“Adam Szymkowicz's double hander about a nightmarishly neurotic couple of internet daters is sharp, heartfelt and very, very funny ... One to watch.” 

—The Independent (London)T

“Seldom is such an occasion as hilarious or as crazy as this one, though the play is bound to ring a few bells for those playing the online dating game these days; mostly, it will ring peals of laughter.” 

—the Examiner (Orange County)T

“Still, in the world the very talented Szymkowicz has created for these would-be lovers, two entirely messed up individuals may make for an absolutely right-for-each-other couple–that is if they can both stick around long enough to make it happen. Nerve is that rare play, one that can appeal equally to those who enjoy taking a walk on the wild side when they go to the theater, and those whose eyes tear up when they recall a rain-soaked Audrey Hepburn embracing George Peppard and that lost-and-found Cat in Breakfast At Tiffany's.” 

—Stage Scene LAT

“What's most striking about the play is the way Szymkowicz takes concepts such as 'normal' and 'typical' regarding dating and opposite-sex interactions and forces us to constantly re-examine and redefine them . In fact, throughout all of'Nerve,' the playwright toys with our perceptions through both characters, first as individuals and then as a potential couple.” 

—The Orange County RegisterT

“The format of Adam Szymkowicz's two-hander from 2006–a young couple at a bar at the end of their first date–is not only deceptively simple, it's also a meditation on a number of issues related to love and romance, marriage, pairing off, and self-image and identity. ... Most eerie is how shards of dialogue may ring in your ears from your own relationships past, a tribute to this skillful script and the talented caste.” 

—Backstage (West)T

“fabulously weird and weirdly fabulous . . .the reconsidered stereotypes and unexpected observations keep coming.”

—The New York Times

“a smart, well done play. . . Catch it before it’s gone.”

—nytheatre.com

"...Szymkowicz has written a refreshingly perceptive work about how love, work and interior narratives act to both blind and free the individual."

—LA Weekly

“Adam Szymkowicz puts a fresh spin on Anton Chekhov's most popular play in this hilarious facelift of The Three Sisters . . . Examining the least flattering tendencies of human nature both draws the siblings closer and threatens to pull them apart, showing that, as in life, tragedy and comedy exist side by side.” 

—Flavorpill LA

“Szymkowicz is a gifted young playwright with an imagination on overdrive . . . Szymkowicz and Single Carrot truly offer a plate of characters and a tribute to the powers and the prisons that we live in as we desperately try to find dates, sneak kisses, get published, and work magic.” 

—Baltimore City Paper

“Is this a play about how well does anyone really know their true self? What keeps us from murdering our insane bosses or pushing a stranger in front of a train, as Dexter contemplates? Is it a play about loss, the painful transitions that occur as we grow from boy to man to husband, from girl to woman to wife, or the pain of never growing up at all? Perhaps all of the above.” 

—Baltimore Examiner

“…one smart play… a wild, strange trip, full of black humor, and something to really challenge the mind.”

—Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“This play by the brilliant young playwright, Adam Szymkowicz, is one strange work of art … it is compelling, humorous, and I would give it a 9 on the proverbial scale.”

—Robert Heller, Publisher's Feature Service (Atlanta)

"disturbing but touching ... Mr. Szymkowicz writes quirky plays about contemporary topics like online dating and gender roles, but there always seems to be something — a knife, a rope, a dead body — in an unexpected place. In “Pretty Theft,” the undercurrent of danger goes beyond quirkiness; it’s more subtle and ultimately more horrifying. The play takes place in a terrifying world where reckless people get hurt, and so do more or less innocent bystanders." 

—New York Times

“Szymkowicz has not only taken the notion of theft and flipped it on its head — he’s taken a story about human beings at their worst and shown how we can claw our way back from the brink by finding the good within ourselves.” 

—The Villager

"To go with its jigsaw-puzzle structure and precision dialogue, Adam Szymkowicz's fine psychological comedy-drama Pretty Theft has pathos, sharp humor, a dash of horror, dancing, and many scene changes. It's the kind of play that demands an exceptional production, and that's just what it gets … Szymkowicz's brilliant stroke is to paint the evil that men do right into the pretty rainbow of yearning that defines humanity. And all with a twinkle, a laugh, a pirouette, and a shiver." 

—Blogcritics Magazine

“a sometimes sad, sometimes funny, and at times nostalgic coming-of-age story.” 

—Flavorpill NY

“…as anyone familiar with the playwright’s work can attest. Szymkowicz’s plays are of a more irreverent ilk. His dialogue is quirky but character-appropriate and while his plots aren’t quite linear, they’re not crazily labyrinthine either. Characters travel along jagged lines that occasionally intersect. This is refreshing because while we can’t foresee the path Theft takes, its destination seems completely justifiable when it is reached.” 

—offoffonline

"a near-flawless production that kept me spellbound from start to finish. Indeed, as the play ended, I found I needed several minutes to both dry my eyes and process the elegant beauty of what I had just witnessed." 

—Theatre Knights (& Daze): News & Reviews

“…quirky-funny but generally unsettling play which is distinguished by a playful Mee-like collage surface and unifying undercurrents of sadness and of danger. I mean no disrespect to the theatrical economy of Angela Astle’s clarifying direction nor to the playwright when I say that the material could be easily shaped into a screenplay: it has indie-movie sensibilities and attitude.” 

—Just Shows To Go You

“I’ve never been involved in a bank heist but if I were, I could never be tasked with the role of Getaway Driver.  I can’t navigate with any certainty when the car is required to do above 30 mph on a city street.  Ask me to drive at break-neck speed through urban obstacles and then set you down at the end safely and I assure you: I can’t do it.  But Adam Szymkowicz can … he shows us how he navigates those narrow streets and dark alleys like a pro… Eventually when the two stories crash into each other, as inevitably they were meant to do, there is a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach as you watch what you can’t believe you’re watching … I won’t give it away, but it’s certainly one of the most disturbing scenes I’ve ever seen played out before me in live theatre.  And then, right before you cover your eyes the steering wheel is given one final expert turn and you’re deposited safely at the end of the road with your heart in your throat but your feet back on terra firma.”  -

—Neighborbee

“Adam Szymkowicz has written a play full of interesting people…The dialogue and humor in this play are excellent…It runs a lean, intermission-less 90 minutes and is very satisfying… This would be good theater for young women not only to see but also to perform.”

—nytheatre.com

“Truly, a unique piece of psycho dramatic comedy, this show will have its audience laughing constantly at the characters, while they nervously anticipate the inevitable dreaded conclusion. This is a production you won’t want to miss.”

—RetroVision Media

“In the broad scheme of things, everything is stolen from us: our beauty, our senses, our minds. The far more specific now of Adam Szymkowicz's latest play, Pretty Theft, dares to show us--elegantly--what's left behind after such robberies. . . But what delivers Pretty Theft is the varied tone of the script, from Bobby's pompous "My kiss is devastating" to Suzy's "incredible discounts" (i.e., shoplifting) and Joe's checklist of questions--a heartbreakingly succinct attempt for him to connect with something, anything, from the outside. These different voices, set against one another, sound a dissonant chorus of disappointments and disaffections, and it's as if no-one is able to give anything, only to take.” 

—That Sounds Cool