Recommended by Daniel Prillaman

This is a powerful piece of theatre that deserves production everywhere. It is elegant. It is brutal. It is honest. It NAILS what real anxiety looks like. This is my first encounter with Henry’s work, and she immediately reveals herself as a master of pace and dialogue, the latter of which, like the lake in the play, holds so much beneath its surface. Her characters leapt off the page and rooted themselves in me as I read, and I can only imagine what a staged production would do. Stage this play.

A spooky, funny, non-stop ride of a penny dreadful!! Danley has written not only an expansive and FUN cast of characters, but she fits them into an enticing, well-paced mystery with genuinely surprising twists and turns. Furthermore, it’s rare to read a play with so much adventure in its stage directions. I cannot emphasize enough the endless possibilities for design this play has. You could stage it in hundreds of different ways. And I would be in the audience for each one.

Simple in premise, yet superbly layered in execution, Seidel has written a delicious and cutthroat tale that leaves us questioning our humanity long after the final words. The dialogue is rich and gripping, and coupled with the play’s vivid stage direction, actors and artistic teams would have no end of fun creating the timeless conflict of its world. I would love to see this live.

Conrad gives us a creepy, dense little horror both poetic in its rhythms and evocative in its imagery. You feel the dread in your bones from the characters’ first exchange, and it does nothing but build all the way to the final page. Nice work!

Be warned, this is a gut punch of a play, but its heart is tender and keening, and so so worth the journey. Romeo’s dialogue has a natural cadence and almost brutal efficiency, and brings us into a world that not only feels all too close on the horizon, but raises fascinating implications and questions about humanity’s relationship with hope. Just as her characters will pay anything to cover their rental fees, what I would not give to see this sublime play on a stage. Theatre at its finest.

This is an astoundingly succinct and terrifying radio play. Everitt’s dialogue is simple and direct, but with unlimited possibilities for execution, and it transports the reader/listener to a dreamworld of absolute fight or flight. Don't look at this one alone in the dark.

I am almost rendered speechless at the amount to unpack. Hoke’s play has a brilliant premise that is intimately powerful, immediately addictive, and quite honestly, erotic (for all the good and bad that that entails). Using the world of graphic novels/comics (one filled with far too much sexual objectification itself), she’s penned a complex, layered commentary on rape culture, the glorification of sexual assault, and our obsession with it, all while giving actors/designers an amazing world to create and inhabit. This play deserves productions everywhere.

Never has Hemingway struck a grander, or more off-putting, shadow. DeVita’s farce fires on all cylinders, giving the audience a world both darkly madcap and beautifully real. We cannot help ourselves being pulled along for the ride as Diana whisks Charlie into her well-laid traps, and the twists and turns never fail to stop or satisfy. Part screwball comedy of old, part mythological fable, and with excellent roles for older and LGBTQ actors, this is a piece to knock you off your feet. I would love to see it on its own.

What a delicious play! An utterly brilliant premise turns comically tragic as Ms. Jolie takes a little well-spirited revenge on a married couple. The play tickles every part of the artist brain, be it acting, directing, or designing, and all in just ten short minutes. This is a powerhouse piece of writing. Stop what you’re doing and read it now.

A stellar and provocative play to stand tall (well...on all fours) with its more horned cousin! Gonzalez wears the inspiration of Ionesco on his sleeve in the best way, and skillfully adapts the old story for a Colombian setting, adding loads of additional meat and symbolism to chew on in the process. Humanity giving into its baser instincts has never been more fun. Or frightening. Chilling, efficiently hilarious, and captivating, I can’t wait to see this on a stage.