Recommended by Nick Malakhow

Funny, theatrical, often moving, and, at times, heartbreaking. Femia utilizes burlesque to enhance the theatricality and structure of this play. I loved all of the disparate elements, from Samm's Youtube clips to the central characters' live performances to the well-scripted, witty scenes. They created a unified aesthetic/theatrical whole! The sizeable ensemble is full of vividly-realized characters and the exploration of walls people erect, public vs. private persona, various kinds of queerness, and the aftermath of difficult life events creates a beautiful mosaic illuminating issues of identity and self actualization.

What a charming, funny, human, and flexible piece that explores love, connection, queerness, and outsidership. Avidon's alien narrators are effective theatrical devices and good characters in and of themselves. Each of the duos of queer teens are distinct and have important and insightful conversations. An excellent piece for young folks to read, see, and perform in, especially young women and queer folks of various gender identities and expressions. Teachers and directors of educational theater would do well to explore this piece!

An effectively written and beautifully structured slice of humanity that explores intimacy, relationships, connection, and all of the wonder, fear, and anxiety that comes with those things. Jessie and Logan are really distinct and well-drawn characters, while also being characters that actors can definitely leave their stamp on--Sheaff's ability to make them specific and yet malleable is amazing! The unity of space and the deft "showing vs telling" of this unfolding relationship through key details is also well executed. An excellent showcase for strong actors!

A well structured, nuanced, and human play with amazing roles for Black women. The language both has the everyday irregularities of natural speech as well as a beautiful lyricism. Revelations are doled out at a good pace with wise use of flashback and private conversation. I hope to see this onstage soon!

What an incredibly rich and vividly rendered theatrical world! I imagine it would be an absolute treat for directors, actors, designers, and movement coordinators alike to create the onstage visual and aural landscape Wardigo depicts here. The story which has shades of both parable and dystopia is exceedingly inventive and thought-provoking. The storytelling manages to be simple and direct while speaking volumes (all sorts of puns intended) about communication, connection, and detachment in our modern world.

Pine has created a deeply unsettling and infinitely fascinating theatrical world here! The well-rendered characters have distinct voices and unique and individual baggage. This piece works both as straightforward storytelling as well as a broader, figurative examination of trauma, widespread social and existential anxiety and despair, and the cyclical feeling of living alongside mental illness. The stage images in this piece are extremely evocative, and there's much here that directors, designers, and actors could do to really leave their imprint on this piece. Tough but really worthwhile reading.

Super theatrical and human at the same time! It manages to be funny and warm and inspiring and energizing while also exploring sexual assault and its aftermath with a gutting directness. The theatrical conventions of being inside Gina's head and hearing disembodied voices is such a wonderful theatricalization of the inner mental gymnastics of trauma and survival.

Such a spectacular piece! I love how it winds through time, and how each scene is such a potent and packed individual unit, and that once you step back to take in the play you see what an incredible whole and nuanced portrait they create. Nora's exploration of Monica makes it impossible not to see just how cruelly and traumatically society defines women by and in the context of their relationships with men. The fact that this piece defines Monica's lovers by her (and gives zero airtime to Clinton) provides an exceeding human and hopeful character study.

Exquisite and theatrical, this piece is both incredibly grand and wide-reaching in thematic and aesthetic scope, while also being incredibly intimate and specific. The way it probes intersectional queerness sharply and with complexity is wonderful. The storytelling through the use of drag, music, movement, monologue, and scene work is so eclectic, yet it feels incredibly cohesive. It is wickedly funny and managed to provoke quite an emotional response as I read without a shred of sentiment or schmaltz. I do hope this piece has a long life and that I get to see a live production some day.

Beautiful, intimate, funny, and full of complex characters rendered with empathy, SAVINGS! is both hyper-specific and extraordinarily human. Gina Femia provides an insightful theatrical exploration of huge themes (gentrification! abandonment! definitions of home and family! the mundanity and profundity of workplace relationships!) with gentleness. The irregularly paced scenes give the impression of collage of humanity, and the characters who show up for a scene feel just as real and lived in as the amazing leads who drive the story. This would be a joy to work on as an actor and director, and a fun build for designers.