Recommended by Greg Burdick

Carnes is digging in the dirt in this extraordinary piece... revealing the past, exposing dark secrets, cataloguing dusty artifacts as a reminder to those who follow. The destruction of innocence, the cyclical pattern of abuse from men in power, and the rationalization/justification from the long line of victims, serve her story well. The imagery is layered and rich, and the message is loud and clear. If you haven’t read work by this playwright, you are sincerely missing out.

Wisdom often comes from unexpected places. In Gonzalez’s touching two-hander, we get it from a homeless man reaching out to a stranger in a time of crisis. There are beautiful speeches in this play. Tackling a delicate issue like suicide without sounding preachy or trite can be very tricky, but this play does so masterfully. The imagery is powerful, and the negotiation between the two characters is so carefully crafted, that you can’t help but be filled with hope and warmth when reading the final lines. Italian subs and skyline twilight views... yep. That is the stuff.

The cost of war is steep. And 18-year-old Mandy has a very mature perspective on the matter, as she frets about the safety of her boyfriend, who decides to enlist for a free ride to college. “I just waited in the truck, watching him through the glass of the recruitment center.” Wyndham’s monologue shows us how insulated the rest of us are from the horrors of combat, and how it’s not a game for those willing to take a chance. Another gem in his ever-growing arsenal of solo pieces for younger actors.

The most upsetting line in this play: “We get this done, and then we can go away somewhere. Where would you like to go this time?” Charles has done this before... who knows how many times...? But Farr gives us Stella, who at first glance, seems just as greasy as he is. A stunning twist reveals she’s been keeping secrets too. The most brilliant construct: the irony of Charles providing gym memberships to keep his young female employees like Stella looking sexy, becomes his tragic downfall. A powerful piece exploring abuse and manipulation.

When a hurricane brings the hammer down hard on “the anvil,” and Pedro has exhausted all other options, he scales the heights of the famous rainforest in search of an alien for help. He wants to believe so desperately in this higher power (is it an alien, his God, his government?) but it appears to ignore his pleas. The play’s endearing resolution gives us hope that Pedro and islanders like him won’t be written off as merely “junk” to be ignored. A wonderful piece of work.

Rebecca and Tim haven’t been married long, but they’re already navigating a massive bump in the road. Hageman’s use of the sock monkey (an appropriately eerie third character in this two-hander,) serves as a catalyst for explosive confrontation, yet provides the means for the two to work through it. The dialogue feels alternately playful and painful- and as a result, real. But there’s no doubt about it: Rebecca and Tim are gonna be just fine.
And that gives hope to the rest of us.

Weaver’s comic sensibilities shine in this post-apocalyptic romp. It feels like Douglas Adams and Monty Python are delivering his eulogy... and who wouldn’t want that... even if every single detail of his (fiercely celebrated!) life was just a bit off center? Well worth the trade off. Cheers for the low-tech PowerPoint presentation. May we all be so lovingly remembered.

It is a rare, magical moment in storytelling when an audience can be doubled over with laughter gasping for breath... and a split second later become slack-jawed, awestruck, not daring to breathe for fear of missing what will be spoken next. “Malheur” has this quality. Carnes boldly presents musings on the razor-sharp edge between sanity and madness, life and death, and the beauty of the natural world pitted against mankind’s never-ending proclivity to taint it. Yet even in the shallows of this once “bad-time,” hope springs eternal. This is a beautiful play.

“Ripped” forces us to look hard at a subject that is not easy to talk about. Quite simply, it’s a play that needs to be produced by university theatre departments all over the country. Bublitz has created a smart, gripping, contemporary morality play about sexual consent, and the disasterous consequences for all parties involved when people play fast and loose with the rules. The memory play format cleverly makes the facts of Lucy and Jared’s encounter cloudy until the very end... which is a perfect starting point for an important and necessary conversation about rape.

When you start a new gig, you’re usually in the dark about most everything. Carnes puts us there quite literally in this absurd and satisfying ten minute play. The tense-yet-polite-and-compliant exchanges between the two characters would be great fun for actors... not to mention a delicious challenge, since we never see them once for the play’s duration. Save on your electric bill, give your lighting designer the day off, and give this one a.... listen.