Recommended by Nick Malakhow

A really well-structured and tightly-written piece that is a perfect balance humor and pathos. The real-time creation of the crossword puzzle is a satisfying and surprisingly theatrical conceit, and the surprises and potent revelations feel both organic but not "out of left field" once they happen. On the contrary, they make you go back and reevaluate the earlier moments in the play and reveal storytelling that had been unfolding all along.

Unsettling and original, "The In-Between" heightens the theatricality of its exploration of hatred, Islamophobia, and assumptions about identity with subtle but palpable supernatural elements. The stage images and nuanced physical metaphors threaded throughout present an arc of slowly building terror that combusts in the final act in an appropriately explosive, tragic ending. I'd love to see a creative company tackle this piece in production!

An unsettling and compellingly theatrical piece that examines the ways violence is rooted in fear. The relationship between Lydia and Boy is a chilling nucleus that the play revolves around, and Marshall and Trey provide an interesting counterpoint. Character revelations about Trey juxtaposed to Boy illuminate different models of dysfunctional masculinity in intriguing ways. Bentley-Quinn's naturalistic/lyrical language is elegant and spare and gives a parable-like quality to the piece. Would be compelling to see these stage images come together live and in person!

A propulsive piece that explores the intersection of addiction, faith, religion, guilt, and shame, among other things. The three characters all orbit around and collide into one another in compelling fashion, and the Biblical story inspiration and natural-yet-heightened language give the play a parable-like quality. The way Rex and Jacob's relationship is colored by Jacob's family and faith is potent, complex, and nuanced--much more so than other narratives that speak to the collision of sexuality and religion.

I absolutely adore this piece! It's a play that would definitely ring true for any drama kid, but I think it would also resonate with a wide range of people with its universal themes of belonging, outsidership, coming of age, and the complex constellation of relationships that come with adolescence. Accuardi treats all of these characters with a depth and sensitivity rarely afforded to such a large ensemble of teens and, as a large cast play, this would be a stellar choice for a high school theater program. The dialogue is funny, poignant, and pitch-perfect.

This is an unsettling look at the ways technology has opened doors of access for the good, the bad, and the ugly. Elliot's driving force is clear and his arc is compelling and disturbing. Stark and Farticus are two perfect forces that create his rock-and-hard-place situation. What is most engaging in this piece, aside from the briskly-moving and propulsive plot, is the way Verschoor renders the internet theatrically. There's so much to play with in terms of clever casting, directing, movement, and design. I'd love to see this piece realized on its feet.

Gorgeous piece that straddles many different genres--comedy, tragedy, drama, and magical realism, most notably. Stephanie Kyung Sun Walters creates three very vivid characters who we zero in on and get to know and understand well, while exploring larger and socially relevant themes of grief, intersectionality, racialized assumptions and violence, generational conflict, and more. The use of music is wonderful and the mix of lyrical dialogue, witty and on-point naturalism, and powerful visual metaphors makes for a theatrically compelling aesthetic whole. I'd so love to see this live and in performance!

A potent, contemporary tragedy that ends in a way that looks forward and actively fights against those classic tragic tropes/assumptions that cycles of abuse and trauma can't be broken. The characters are vividly rendered in their naturalism, and yet the play takes on a mythical/heightened quality with its grand themes and events and the unity of space. Loved the visual metaphor inherent in/embedded in the set of this house and the idea of escape via the roof. All of the characters are complicated, and I found Izzy especially nuanced--at once troubling and easy to sympathize with.

As a horror nut, I loved this genre-bending piece that conjures up everything from the arctic paranoia horror of "The Thing" to the visceral and theatrical brutalism of Kane. The folks that populate this piece present important identity intersections and Stevens uses that to examine human nature, coming of age, social roles and expectations, and the danger, volatility, and violence of adolescence in a unique way! I'd love to see a bold production team of designers, movement directors, directors, and actors tackling this piece. The Mammoth has the potential to be a terrifying and evocative visual metaphor.

An amazingly rendered ensemble of complex characters. Lynett crafts people who you can totally get behind while never shying away from their flaws, nuances, and questionable decisions. A powerful and deeply intersectional examination of both the fallout of and self-perpetuating systems that create police violence. June, Miriam, and Audre's interactions are so loaded and explore family/generational conflict, the complexities of interracial relationships, respectability politics, and more. Camille's presence adds an excellent and complicated dimension of the role of non-Black nonwhite folks in these issues, and Lucy is a complex exploration of white guilt. Amiri's presence is poignantly felt throughout.