Bücher von Adam Szymkowicz

Adam Szymkowicz is that rarest of things: a working playwright. At a time when the entire business model of American theatre seems on the verge of implosion--and most dramatists survive only through soul-sucking day jobs, the largesse of patrons or their own families, or writing for television--Szymkowicz has carved out a distinctive niche for himself without relying on big institutions or the brass ring of a Broadway production. Each year, his body of work--over 20 sharp, funny, pop-culture-inflected plays animated by an unabashed romanticism--is staged everywhere from major urban theatres to colleges and high schools.In Letters to a Young Playwright, Szymkowicz dispenses hard-earned, unsentimental, and entertaining advice to early-career dramatists. Modeled on Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet, it covers topics like writer's block, self-promotion, and the pluses and minuses of pivoting to Hollywood in insightful and digestible short essays. Perfect for beginning playwrights as well as mid-career writers looking to reinvigorate their craft and career, it contains endlessly useful advice and reflections from one of the most-produced living playwrights in America--as well as a handful of select excerpts from the over 1,100 interviews he has conducted with playwrights since 2009.

101 Things I Never Said to You - Adam Szymkowicz's powerful play - a poeticexploration of death, loss and grief through the lens of teenagers whose classmate hasdied - can be presented by a cast ranging from four to one hundred and six actors. Ata school assembly after the death of their classmate Julie, students share memoriesand say the things they never told Julie as their community attempts to heal.100 Love Letters I Never Sent - Told by an ensemble of any size - ranging from fourperformers to one hundred and six, 100 Love Letters I Never Sent is a collectionof spoken aloud love letters describing the kaleidoscope of ways people can loveone another. The letters vary in tone, from sweet to bitter to hilarious to outrightconfusing. The play is as expansive as love itself. This work serves as a companionpiece to 100 Things I Never Told You.

There's been a murder at the Clown Bar. It's a place where underground clown crime syndicates battle for top billing, and a gunshot ends in a bleeding stream of confetti. The rules are strict, the jokes are dark, and the best way to serve a cocktail is to "make it funny."It's a year later and the Clown Bar is in disrepair. Happy has gone missing. Has he been offed by clown cowboy Brigham Bill or was it an inside job? Two cops who knew Happy when he was on the force go undercover as clowns in the Clown Bar to find out what happened.

A gender-bending, patriarchy-smashing, hilarious new take on the classic tale, adapted for performance by teen actors for family audiences. Robin Hood is (and has always been) Maid Marian in disguise, and leads a motley group of Merry Men (few of whom are actually men) against the greedy Prince John. As the poor get poorer and the rich get richer, who will stand for the vulnerable if not Robin? What is the cost of revealing your true self in a time of trouble?Modern concerns and romantic entanglements clash on the battlefield and on the ramparts of Nottingham Castle in this play about selfishness, selflessness, love deferred and the fight. Always the fight. The fight must go on.

One minute: that's all the time an actor needs to make a scorching impressionto pull in an audience, make them care, laugh, cry, remind them that life is worth living, or help them forget that life is hard.Small Explosions collects more than ninety entirely new monologues from acclaimed playwright Adam Szymkowicz (Hearts Like Fists, Clown Bar, Pretty Theft). Short, punchy, and thoroughly memorable, they traverse the extremes of heartbreak and joy, epiphany, and bewilderment, across a range of moods and voices. Perfect as audition pieces or training exercises, they hit hard, make their mark, and just as quickly get out of the way, leaving an indelible impression.

Welcome to Colchester, a small town where everybody knows each other and the pace of life allows the pursuit of love to take up as much space as it needs. Our tour guide is Suzanne, the town photographer, who lets us peek into her neighbors' lives to catch glimpses of romance in all its stages of development. A play about love, nostalgia, the seasons and how we learn to say goodbye.

Orville is trying to get on with his life after his wife was killed in a car accident. His father is mostly taking care of his still unnamed infant daughter while his boss at work is aggressively trying to comfort him. Everything changes when he sees the man responsible for his wife's death. Is someone in this much pain capable of forgiveness?

"Firefighting and fire starting get the noir-camp treatment in Adam Szymkowicz's INCENDIARY, which tackles the whimsical dilemma of star-crossed lovers in the arsonist and arson-investigator fields. ...this nutty love triangle of boy, girl and inferno is charmingly original and genuinely suspenseful."Time Out Chicago "Hilariously ornate in the best world-weary, film-noir fashion."Chicago Theater Beat

A gender-bending, patriarchy-smashing, hilarious new take on the classic tale. Robin Hood is (and has always been) Maid Marian in disguise, and leads a motley group of Merry Men (few of whom are actually men) against the greedy Prince John. As the poor get poorer and the rich get richer, who will stand for the vulnerable if not Robin? What is the cost of revealing your true self in a time of trouble? Modern concerns and romantic entanglements clash on the battlefield and on the ramparts of Notti

"Pretty Theft was produced by Flux Theatre Ensemble at the Access Theatre in New York City, opening on April 24, 2009"--Page 4.