Recommended by Greg Hovanesian

Frosty the Rogue Man is a wonderful play that demonstrates just how important our words and actions can be. Frosty starts as a creepy, misogynistic rogue...but we learn that there’s more to him than his ugly catcalls. Claudia Haas has written a play that is funny, sweet, and very startling in what it implies: we take after those who create us, and we need to do a better job teaching those who learn from us.

SUPER DEATH breaks our hearts and gives us hope at the same time. Two brothers face two terrifying destinies brought forward by one common enemy: Death. But is Death strong enough to break the bond formed by the Love of two brothers? That is the question Goldman-Sherman has put forward in this play. Despite the ominous destiny that both boys know is inevitably coming, the outcome of the play is far from certain, and the audience/reader is kept at the edge of their seats as the struggle unfolds.

On one level, PARADOXYSM is about relationships: between friends, family members, lovers. Take a look from another angle, and it’s about ghosts: the ghosts and memories who haunt our lives, persistently calling to us, whether we hear them or not. More than anything else, however, it’s a heartbreaking story about mental illness, and the unavoidable difficulties faced by those who suffer from them and the family and friends of those affected. Henry has spun a wonderful tale of magic, mystery, and sadness that deserves to be seen and heard.

What do the words around us mean? Do they actually have meaning? Palindrome Love is a mesmerizing work that dives face first into the meaning of language, and how we interpret what is spoken and heard. The mood shifts from light to dark with the speed of a souped-up race car, taking the audience on unexpected turns down winding roads of dialogue. Lynn has written a play that shows us it’s not what you say that’s important: it’s how you say it, to whom you say it, the where, when, and why you say it, that matters.

What happens when you combine Shakespeare’s magnum opus with spitfire dialogue and the streets of L.A? In the case of Noir Hamlet, you’re left with a wildly entertaining and insightful play! When Little H., a private eye, is visited by his father's ghost, who demands vengeance, H takes on “the case” with enthusiasm. But the twists are many, the turns lead to darkness, and friends become enemies. This is a wonderful hard-boiled detective story, replete with shady characters and often hilarious banter. It also serves as a reminder of what humans are capable of: deceit, lies, murder.

Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton were giants of the early cinema world. But it’s easy to forget that they were also human, both of whom had careers that ended tragically. In this thought-provoking play, the pair team up to work together on the set of Chaplin’s Limelight, and we see the human side of these artists. The audience is faced with a very difficult question: in times of political darkness and uncertainty, what is the job of artists? To simply entertain? Or to reach for something deeper, more profound? This is an important piece for today's political climate.