Recommended by Nick Malakhow

What a glorious piece! Billie is such a dynamic, well-rendered, complex character with a well of sadness and grief covered by some of the best and most natural sardonic humor I've seen captured in dialogue. All of the characters who orbit around her are compelling and sympathetic, even as they do and say self-destructive and questionable things. In Nathan, Henry has made visible an astute and compassionate portrait of a major depressive episode. All throughout, the punctuating meditation interludes deepen this poignant exploration of grief, letting go, the importance of relationships, and one's responsibility to themselves and their health.

I'm uniquely positioned to jive with this play as a teacher of color who has lived/worked in majority white, "elite" spaces, but I imagine anyone would be compelled by the nuanced narrative of Aleyna and Sarai. So much truth is explored here--compromising one's identity vs. rocking the boat, the mental health impacts and emotional labor of being a POC in a white institution. The perfectly rendered (and at times maddening) dynamics in the play paint the whole socio-cultural landscape with just a few characters. Echoes of collage in the theatricality of the piece are quite effective as well.

I was thoroughly moved by this powerful play that winds its way back and forth in time. The chronological shifts help sustain tension and deliver satisfying developments while also heightening the theatricality of the piece. Jesse and Neil's interspersed direct addresses also came off as necessary and revealing rather than as a mere device. Rivers has set lyrical poetry beside well-observed, naturalistic scenes that resonated with me. I'm so thankful to have read such a nuanced exploration of interracial relationships complicated with an intersectional focus on queerness as well. The ending was startling, potent, and extremely moving.

This quirky, hilarious, and very human play explores intimacy, relationships, self-image, and "optimization culture" with a nuanced and skillful touch. Rachel Graf Evans creates nine distinct and compelling characters each with their own potent and crystal clear motivations for diving into this unique evening, and each member of the ensemble orbits around and interacts with one another well. Despite existing within this delightfully heightened theatrical world, the characters are also all incredibly human and multi-dimensional and all receive gloriously full story arcs. From a design and direction standpoint, this would make an awesome semi- or completely environmental piece.

Wow! What an extraordinarily tender and complex examination of several queer men each with unique relationships to masculinity, war, and how those things intersect with their identities. Kyle is such a powerful protagonist, a bundle of nerves waiting to be exposed. I loved how this play moved along at a contemplative pace, while propelling itself intently to a suitably wrenching, sweet, and inspiring climax. Rosendorf transitions from scene to scene with boldly theatrical "cinematic" insta-cuts. Scenes bleeding into the next only serve to underscore Kyle's attempts to make sense of his fragmented life. I must see this!

I loved the structural elegance of this short, simple, yet nuanced piece. Jessie's countdown to showtime provides a nice little boost to the stakes of the piece without seeming contrived, and Loftin utilizes the unity of time and space well. Jessie's progressively loaded conversations with her manager, her "momager," and then a diehard fan compelling propel Jessie towards her concert. I appreciated that the journey Jessie underwent was subtle when it could have been melodramatic. The ending is gloriously ambiguous--the kind of ambiguity that I appreciate and that still feels satisfying. I'd love to see this onstage!

I loved the simple beauty of this piece. Don is a compelling character who goes through a nuanced journey of coming to terms with family-related grief and guilt, as well as a desire to reconnect with distant family. Through Don's humorous and haunting mother and Don's funny and well-observed interactions between him and his other family members (and Scott), Liu paints the portrait of a young person grappling with who they are in relation to their family. A few gorgeous theatrical moments and specters from the past take the story to a whole other sublime, beautifully theatrical level.

Max Gill, once again, shows himself to be a master of creating speculative worlds in theater! I appreciated the way he straddles comedy and dystopia while exploding the oft-used "four adults in an upscale living room" trope. Each character is fully fleshed out and has unique and pointed motivations. Because of that, the dark comedy naturally flows from their clashing desires vs. contrived playwright tricks. The disintegrating apartment is also a perfectly theatrical extended metaphor for the anarchic future America we see falling apart throughout the play. Rani's final monologue hits hard and is a compelling punctuation mark.

I thoroughly enjoyed this subtly told, nuanced piece about self image, self-worth, relationships, and sisters. Maggie is a compelling protagonist who is realistic, charming, and goes through a powerful journey throughout. Jordan is an excellent foil for Maggie. Wagner makes her, at first, a sympathetic antagonist before Jordan's own complex and poignant baggage is revealed as the story unfolds. I particularly loved how this piece avoided melodramatics. Its moving conclusion was founded on small but effective seismic shifts within and between characters. The ending was satisfying even though it wasn't tied up with a neat bow.

This play is an exquisite and hilarious tour-de-force for two young women. Using bold theatrical conventions and a keen sense of humor, Hanna Kime explores the complex, confusing, manic, and heartbreaking reality of being an adolescent girl. Kime asks us to consider the ways that society pits young women against one another and female creativity against a miasma of patriarchal mediocrity. To break up the increasingly frenetic "workshopping" of this amazing musical, Kime opts for a subtle but all-too-clear turning point in the final quarter of the play. It is ambiguous but heartbreakingly evident what has happened. Excellent piece!