Recommended by Nick Malakhow

This piece utilizes spare, economical language to tell a beautifully rich and layered story. The tightly written play keeps it momentum throughout and the small, subtle surprises lead to potent and seismic shifts in the story. There is a wonderful sense of change and evolution throughout this piece, and it all manages to come through these small, powerful moments rather than contrived theatrics. The unity of time and place keeps this feeling urgent as well. I'd love to see this realized onstage!

I loved the offbeat, whimsical, human, melancholic tone of this piece. The three central characters are so vividly realized, as is the dynamic supporting character, Susan. Sievers definitely captures the ache and longing these young folks are feeling at a destabilized transitional moment in their lives while also showing us their uncertain yet hopeful paths forward. The intergalactic, fantastical aesthetic of this piece adds another layer of theatricality that makes me yearn to see it onstage. The final scene is full of wonder, ambiguity, and beauty.

An incredible, theatrical, and richly layered telling of this modern mythology. The combination of music, fable, folklore, and dynamic and well-rendered characters kept me engaged throughout the entirety of this piece. The rhythms in Buckner's scenes capture wonderfully natural, human characters, and the use of heightened text, music, and supernatural figures combine with those more naturalistic elements to create an intriguing and coherent aesthetic whole. Robert's journey is compelling and so fully realized. I'd love to see, hear, and experience this staged.

A funny, empathetic, and insightful piece about a couple reevaluating and coming to terms with their own relationship as their daughter leaves for college. The use of the reality tv premise injects a whimsical dose of humor and a heightened aura to the human and warm heart of the piece. The theatricality of the mid-play house deconstruction and then tiny house construction is wonderful--a crystal clear and clever extended metaphor for Claire and Ben's ruminations on their marriage. This script would be great fun for actors, directors, and designers alike!

An awesome, exquisitely rendered theatrical portrait of depression, struggles with mental health, recovery, and connection. This piece contains a very human story refracted through the destabilizing and discomfiting lens of depression and anxiety. Zubel incredibly captures that very filter of self-doubt and "paranormality" characteristic of a battle with mental health using lightly absurd and surreal theatricality. I love how it ends messily but hope and images of progress.

An exciting piece with briskly moving dialogue and an ensemble of dynamic and eclectic characters. Moore explores celebrity and fame, the music industry, addiction and its manifestations in different people, and artistic integrity vs. selling out. I was really thrilled with the vivid sense of place established in this piece and the clear and powerful journeys of every single character--they all have wants, needs, and obstacles that make it compelling to watch them orbit around and collide into one another.

I love the way this piece explores generational differences in labels and stigmas attached to neurodiversity, examining the opportunities and struggles both William and Franklin face/faced at various ages and in various time periods. It's a poignant story about connection, loneliness, and navigating life looking for folks to share affinity spaces with--the mentor/student relationship and reversal is surprising and well-handled. Karissa and Vivian are also dynamic characters with strong arcs. Osmundsen's eye towards the intersectional identities of all four of these people, as well, brings an assured depth and nuance to both lead and supporting characters.

A funny, satirical look at contemporary relationships and existential angst. Murray captures the indecisiveness, confusion, and self-absorption that are characteristic of the transition into becoming an actualized adult. These folks want so much to find love and connection, and Murray shows the ways they stall or block these things because they are still sorting their own lives out. The dialogue is briskly-paced and readable, and the shifts in alliances and relationships are all interesting to watch evolve. I loved how the end was a poignant, ambiguous moment.

A poignant, potent story that winds back and forth through time to illustrate the ways that kids, particularly women and femme-identifying folks, who are navigating trauma and betrayal are forced into resilience at a time in their lives when they need to be most cared for. Max and Dr. C are compelling central characters, and the entire ensemble is populated by interesting, complex supporting characters. I appreciated the powerful parallels Deely makes in juxtaposing 1999 with 2016, Max with Dr. C, the toxicity of Clinton's presidency and its fomentation into a horrifyingly enduring normalization of misogyny/hatred in our present.

Zubel uses absurdity and fantastical tropes to tell an incredibly wrenching and moving story about addiction, loneliness, and recovery. The progression from the whole Area 51 trip to Lee's terrifying and glorious monologue to the final moments feel all so carefully constructed even when the piece is at its most dreamlike. This play manages to be both a juicy challenge for actors and a treat for directors, designers, and movement coordinators alike. I would so love to see this realized onstage!