Recommended by Nick Malakhow

Oglesby is so gifted at creating stories that not only center the voices of young people, but that truly examine the concerns, anxieties, dreams, and hopes of teens from their perspectives, on their own terms, and not just in relation to adult characters. This incredibly theatrical world would be an absolute delight to try and realize as a director, actor, or designer, and I loved how hilarity co-existed with some incredibly moving moments throughout. An excellent piece with universal resonance that should be produced far and wide!

I had the pleasure of seeing Fresh Ink's virtual reading of this--what a glorious combination of expansive world building and nuanced focus on humanity (and, well, beyond humanity!). Lerch has created a sizeable ensemble of amazing characters, and it is a testament to their writing skill how engaging and sympathetic they all are even as they antagonize one another. The exploration of community, internal struggle/discord/strife, and the complexity of social movements is robust. The balance of humor and pathos is also a pleasure to experience as an audience member. I'd love to see it realized in production!

I appreciated the subtlety of the storytelling here. This works quite well as a short, potent, 10-minute piece and it tackles important issues, but everything is shown rather than told very simply and elegantly. While we don't know the entire circumstances behind the initial meeting of Dr. Dowda and Sammy at the protest, the details we're provided make excellent points about identity-based assumptions and provide essential openings for audience conversation.

A sweet, tenderly written romance! Mabey manages to shade in all of the necessary exposition with deft brushstrokes that never feel forced or contrived, and the beautiful, seismic shift in Sophie and Tess's relationship is believable and well-earned.

This compelling scene full of tension works well even out of context of the full-length piece! I was delighted to see this world fleshed out in "A Complicated Hope," but also like this scene by itself--the central relationship here is so juicy and loaded.

A tenderly-written and well-observed play that examines the human irregularities of grief, loneliness, family, and longing for connection. Mabey uses the scattered chronology well--the shifts in time give us interesting reveals and ramp up the tension, even though the story isn't technically moving forward. The three central characters are all nuanced and sympathetic, and the unconventional relationships between them feel plausible and driven by potent needs for one another. The eye towards their intersectional identities is astute. The final scene is a beautiful, poignant punctuation mark on the play.

Exquisite piece that demands to be read, performed, and appreciated by teens and adults alike. Moss echoes and subvert "Our Town" with a deft hand that results in a piece with a similar universal-meets-mundane ethos while still feeling fresh. The "world building"-->"world expanding"-->"tear-inducing-mortality-rumination" structure feels familiar as someone who has seen/read/directed Wilder's piece, yet it's done in such a novel way. How wonderful to center the piece around teens given "Our Town's" often touted crown as most produced HS play. It honors and reexamines that source text.

This play is a revelation! What an amazing use of immersive theater techniques and the themes explored--healing and processing in communal and collective spaces, individualism, capitalistic overreach, existential dread of the commodification of society, the dystopian endgame of the cis-white-het-patriarchy--are done so with complexity and nuance. The world building is amazing as well--it manages to never feel like exposition. I'd be so thrilled to experience a production of this!

Another genre-defying piece by King that combines horror tropes, sharp comedy, and a powerful exploration of a segment of queer culture. The supernatural here is such an elegantly executed extended metaphor for the generational divides and connections between younger and older gay men, and the conversations that all of these men have are well articulated, necessary, and natural sounding. The reasons for those divides are beautifully and thoroughly explored and the ending, even though it provides no easy answers, looks towards exchanging alienation and othering for community and coming together.

An awesome piece of theatrical horror that has enough atmosphere to sustain its successful slow-burn throughout. That's of course before one even takes into account and appreciates the sophisticated exploration of homophobia, mental health, and queerness. The examination of those intersecting issues in a post-2016 election world is nuanced and well thought out. There's so much to work with here as an actor, director, and designer--an ambitious production company could have a field day both leaning into the horror tropes and the existential dread of it all. I'd love to see this on its feet!