Recommended by Daniel Prillaman

At once a tip of the hat to the masters that came before and a brutal, well-deserved evisceration of Lovecraft (and his blatant racism), Schaffer’s play is biting, unsettling, and funny as shit. I love a good stoner play, but it’s rare when they evoke an actual contact high. The bizarre and unexpected events of a drug trip parallel deliciously with contemplating our small place in the cosmic horror of existence. Add artistic ambitions and legacies to the mix? Oof. Hilarious, insightful, nuanced, and again, funny as shit. Oh god this would be fun to see.

I'm profusely tickled by the quirkiness in this play. One expects that encountering a legitimate haunting would be more off-putting and less absolutely delightful. There's some excellent commentary on how far women's rights have come (and haven't...) since "Fantasma's" age, but there's something deeper that unites both our ghost and plighted schoolteacher, and that is a punchline I will not spoil here. Hilarious, properly pointed, and pitch-perfect, I thoroughly enjoyed this piece. Audiences most certainly will, too.

If you know Gatton's work, you don't need me to tell you how wonderful his plays are. "A Grove, Again" is no outlier (save for reasons exceptional). This is a moving drama about a family's journey impacted by tragic chance, but later in the trek. If grief or loss or anguish is a series of waves and tides, many moons have risen and fallen by the time we find these three by their jigsaw puzzle. The result? A beautiful mediation on the twisting road of hope, perseverance, and love.

You know what your problem is? You haven't read this yet.

Floyd-Priskorn's collection is a tremendous and malleable evening of theatre. Those searching for simple sets have no further to look, as contained within is a truly staggering gamut of characters and situations. From largesome birds to nightmarish childhood games to touching (and mildly supernatural) family reunions, there are moments aplenty that will stick with an audience. The best anthologies complement and intertwine back in upon themselves, offering a puzzle for production teams willing to piece them together. This is most certainly the case here, and it would be amazing to catch live.

I was fortunate enough to catch a production of “Plague Play” and good God (maybe, what the hell is God doing here? It doesn’t seem as angelic as it should be?). A nuanced, incredible exploration of cycles of violence and war, justification, hope, grief, and aid. These four characters are so well-written: distinct, layered, each struggling to understand what they are encountering in real-time. The spectacle is largely kept off-stage, letting the words and performances take our imaginations to the darkest places of human suffering. A deftly structured descent (ascent? spiral?) into lament, anguish, and amidst it all, gratefulness.

I mean, the only thing more terrifying than Allens (sorry, “aliens”) are lethal rednecks. The only thing funnier than this play? Not much. Busser brings his A-game to an endlessly twisting and ante-upping abduction scenario. Shit gets wild. The designers are going to have fun, y’all. Everybody will. Except maybe Allen.

What starts out as an…overly friendly neighbor(?) encounter slowly and gradually becomes something altogether different. Thank God for Jaden’s persistence. Without spoiling anything, the actual subject at hand is incredibly complex and difficult to navigate, no matter your role. So again, thank God for Jaden’s persistence. Excellent short play.

My director brain had a lot of fun reading this. The rest of my brain, too, mind you, but my director brain had the most. Donley’s puzzle is one that might even frighten some, but it’s delightfully accessible beneath its Fury Road but comedy-esque surface. And down there? Whimsical and unforgiving musing on terrorism, nationality, marriage, commitment, and Disney. This would be incredibly fun to see or be in. You know, in addition to directing.

I actually read this just before a therapy appointment...

Thankfully it turned out a little differently. Donley's short play is a ride through motherhood and hereditary misgivings, "in-laws" and very physical debate. The moral here is probably that therapy, no matter how unique or unorthodox or deadly, helps. It helps very much. And tea. Highly entertaining.

In my teen years, I was afflicted with significant Monty Python-exposure. As a result, there are few things I am fonder of than serious silliness. This is some highly serious silliness. So much wordplay, so much buffoonery, so much failure to address the marsupial problem. Thank God for Nico and his tea boy prowess. Plumridge’s play is a delightful romp that (pun intended) practically bounces off the page. Any team will have an absolute hoot with this group of somewhat senile Signors.