Recommended by Daniel Prillaman

A delightfully fun adaptation of Poe's classic story with the pitch-perfect level of creepy, Cross' tight script will hypnotize and transfix audiences of all ages. The timeliness of the play is undeniable (unfortunately), a solid reminder that disease is unfeeling. Without precaution, sometimes even with, it will find you. A better example of some old-school horror will be hard to find.

A delicious little creepfest short sure to hit with actors, technicians, and audiences alike. Busser gives a tight guidance for the horror at hand, but still allows so much room for play, which is lovely to see. The "is it all in his head?" motif is one we see often, but the twist here (which I dare not spoil) is quite ingenious, and different. Fun piece.

There's a loud minority of "gamers" who view their hobbies as a shelter. In Jay's case (an example of too many out there), MTG isn't so much a fun card game, but a haven where he can find the power and status he's sorely lacking in his daily life. No wonder the toxic masculinity and rage comes out when women "intrude". It's a despicable existence, and Dickens Assaf's natural dialogue pulls no punches. The character study at work here offers no sympathy for these struggling people. It’s up to us to judge them. Brilliant, dynamic piece.

You can call it whatever you want. It takes many forms. Stress. Anxiety. Paranoia. Trauma. We don't ever get a solid, concrete reason explaining Clay's fear, and we don't need it, because whether it's founded or not (is it?), it's real to him. And it is DESTABILIZING. To say more about the contents of this play would be to ruin its magic (another reason I so adore Gatton's work), but rest assured you are in the best of hands. A delightful, horror-filled exploration of the havoc our minds can wreak.

Delightfully creepy, full of dread, and entrenched in good, old small town secrets, McClain's riff on Bierce's short story is fantastic. This script is filled with moment after escalating moment of "something is wrong," and I want nothing more than to see it live. The mysteries at hand loom over every scene, and the sound/set design would be such FUN to figure out and nail together. If you're looking to give more horror scripts a chance, it would be unwise to neglect this one.

I don't like this play. It is very good. It's excellent. But it makes me uncomfortable and is almost too real. In lesser hands than Cathro's, it would maybe be exploitative. Instead, it is a brutal reminder of how innocently and calmly the internet/social media can bring out the worst in us. And not only bring it out, but give it even more power to wreak its havoc. Beware.

A fabulous, theatrical spectacle of a play that I want to experience over and over. Marchant has built a slice-of-life epic, set somewhere in a slowly dying, but clinging to life strip mall. The characters kill time with conversations through themselves, their phones, singing to almost no one, messing with displays, and more, but the pacing at hand is so masterful that every silence is just endlessly charged. A delicious commentary and exploration of retail life and the work struggle. Highly recommend.

Powerful, fantastical, and brilliantly theatrical, this play is just everything. Vondy's epic is subtle and devilishly clever, beginning in the realm of historical fiction that you think will just scratch your true crime itch, but it becomes so much more vast and intimate, filling our heads with wonderous questions and commentary on sexism, identity, legacy, and everything in between. The wordplay and stage imagery in here is endlessly delightful, and I cannot recommend it enough. Read it. Produce it. Now. Forever.

To be a little more colloquial than Sickles' beautiful play, I cannot overstate that it gives me ALL THE FEELS. I have ADHD, but deal with RSD less than Dal, and the play movingly and poetically transports us inside his unique blend of chemical miswiring. Everyone's brain (and everyone's demons) is different, and the only way to win is with help from others. A transcendent little reminder of the strength of human connection, companionship, and kindness.

On the surface, comedy. Underneath, the eternal conflict between generations. Richter does so much here with so little, and it's a hoot.