Recommended by Nick Malakhow

I loved the structural elegance of this play. It was inventive without being gimmicky. On the contrary the dichotomy between some of the profound and wrenching losses Gracie/Graciella/Grace faces and the more mundane and sometimes humorous episodes so perfectly captures the relationship between humans and death, dying, bereavement, grief, and mortality. Jacob Marx Rice gives us a human, flawed, and compelling central character--the perfect centerpiece to a play such as this. The theatricality of everyone playing multiple ages and some poignant double-casting is just icing on the cake. I'd love to see this one in production!

A surprising piece about a totally taboo topic that manages to humanize its troubled protagonist in a distinct way without excusing her or letting her off the hook. The examination of child abuse, blame, the after effects of trauma, and coping with the seemingly impossible to handle is all realized here in a very complex and nuanced way. Additionally, the heightened feel of the piece lends a theatricality that makes me interested in seeing this live onstage.

I loved the theatricality of this piece, most clearly seen in the prologue and in the private, individual monologues within each character on their own "planets." I would love to see a director and designer tackle those moments. Dana is a compelling nucleus for the play, and the evolution of her relationship with her sister and the complexities of their family story make for an engaging read. Beyond Dana, each character was, in fact, distinct and interesting. The ending was plausible but surprising; Sad and melancholy, but I retained hope for Dana and Mirabelle.

A slim and powerful piece that tackles the aftermath of suicide, a variety of mental health concerns, grieving, and family--found and otherwise. I loved the theatrical device of the stage manager which felt like an effective visual and living metaphor for the static and obsessive thoughts in Sarah's head. Every character is well drawn, and I love how Rice avoided sentimentality and honed in on specificity and complexity in each character's reactions to Connor's suicide. The result is human, often funny, nuanced, and very moving. This briskly-paced piece says a lot in under two hours!

This piece takes the huge and all too relevant topic of gun violence and explores it in an intimate fashion through the lens of the event's impact on a family and their small business. The relationship between Gail and Abby is really the star here, and it is displayed with humor, warmth, pathos, and nuance. In looking at this tight constellation of people, Cathro comprehensively examines the fear, anger, confusion, and destabilization in the wake of this terrible tragedy.

An exciting, inventive, and highly original piece! Not only did the spare, lyrical poetry read beautifully on the page, but it was also easy to imagine this as an audio, teleconferencing, or live play. It would live and breathe well in each medium. Compelling and briskly moving storytelling that stuck with me long after in the way it addressed moving on and giving into despair vs. charging forth with hope. There is a warm everyday humor about it that is paired with a sense of whimsy and magic and a spare beauty.

What a ride it was to read the first 50 pages or so which are available here to download! Sams' use of shifting chronology and memory and sound heightens the theatricality and tension of this already taut narrative. Devra is an amazing and layered protagonist, and the reveals come elegantly and naturally while still being surprising. I appreciated how this both worked as a compelling psychological thriller and a nuanced and complex exploration of mental health, PTSD, and the resources sorely lacking or underdeveloped or under-priortized for veterans. Definitely dying to know how it ends!

Hilarious, theatrical, and blistering in its social critique, "Man + Wife" is an aesthetically offbeat-yet-cohesive piece that would be fun to act in, direct, or design. Reading it gave Christopher Durang meets Thornton Wilder vibes, but it's really more exciting and engaging than their oeuvres and totally its own thing at the same time. Goldman-Sherman manages to tackle a lot here--deconstructing gender roles and expectations, misogyny, homophobia and transphobia, marriage, and the socio-political zeitgeist--but it somehow doesn't feel overloaded. The focus on these two archetypes and a parable-esque format allows the big ideas to shine through.

What an exquisitely written coming of age story. Charly Evon Simpson captures the confusing and overwhelming developmental moment that is the cusp of teenagerhood by rendering all of her young characters like the multi-dimensional human beings that they are. She also explores the intersection of identity formation, growing up, and mental health in a way that is so delicately portrayed while also honest and real. To top it all off, the poignant moments punctuate some incredible hilarity that propels the piece forward, the humor always coming from circumstance and truth. I'd love to see this onstage!

This is a moving, poignant version on the "what could have been" narrative. Ryan uses ghosts (literal and figurative) to illustrate how permanently marked we are by regrets and past decisions. I also appreciated the theatricality of winding back and forth through time, and the melancholy final moments when James is brought back to the present after his nostalgic reverie.