Recommended by Daniel Prillaman

Is it possible to rule over others and not abuse your power? Perhaps, but a fool tormented by countless torture and insults and terrors probably doesn’t stand the best chance at being the exception. In a short capsule of what appears an endless cycle of immortal tragedy, Bolduc’s titular Fool does his job dutifully. That is, until he decides to change his job. There’s a vacancy, after all. Absolutely nightmarish and a fun treat for a small troupe.

Everybody has something they wish they stuck with longer, don't they? "Rubato" is a moving (and musical, both literally and lyrically) scene on regret, consequences, love, and so much more. This is a succinct script and deft examination of how the choices we make as children on what passions to pursue reverberate through the rest of our lives. Just as much, how those choices are affected by the people in our lives, our parents, our teachers. Further just as much, if we regret those choices, it will one day be too late to address changing them if we wish. Beautiful.

There's little I latch onto more than the fusing of the real and fantastical, and "Beekeeper" delivers in spades. Vargas' play is not only an astounding story and script of familial grief and hereditary drama, but it is as layered and complex as an actual hive. The multiple languages will thrill actors, the multiple rooms and sounds and costumes will thrill designers, and every aspect will thrill audiences. I would LOVE to see this staged and experience how a production brings these elements to life.

O.O

It’s rare when any play makes me literally sit up/need to put down my device/step away for a moment. The moment in question here…goddamn. I mean, O.O! I can’t be more clear.

Or, if you need more, this is a scary (with just the right pinch of funny) short about fear of commitment, nervousness, and the nagging thought: “what if we don’t know our partners as well as we think we do?” Terrifying. I would run straight out of the bed, then the house. And I sleep in the nude.

Surely, a gifted enough talker can talk their way out of any fate? Right? Soltero-Brown's two-hander is a witty (constantly), poetic (at times), and tense (almost unforgivingly so) collision of a scene. Money is what brings these two characters together, but what’s more important is how. And how is the resolution going to come about? The answer to that is about much much more than money, digging into the darkest corners of gender politics, social constructs, and vile misogyny. This is some ruthless and fiery dialogue, and a feast of a play for the right actors.

Jackson's brain is remarkable. It is also a jungle. No matter our flavor of brain or where we are on the spectrum, no matter how much time we might spend in our heads or within ourselves, Heyman’s protagonist is one we can all relate to. Amidst any battle with grief, any face-to-face with demons, one thing is constant, and that’s that while searching inward may one day bring clarity, it’s a lonely road. One we can’t invite others on. And that’s why love, family, and friendships mean everything. Beautiful.

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.