Recommended by Nick Malakhow

Stellar piece whose incisive humor is as powerful as its wrenching drama. Watching Nia navigate white supremacy as a Black female artist is compelling, horrifying, and fraught. To tell the story with mostly Black bodies is both an effective theatrical tool and a blistering critique of performative allyship. Vaughn-Jones succeeds in examining the multi-headed monster of patriarchal white supremacy by rendering all kinds of flavors of it. The two poems Nia performs are absolutely exquisite and the final scene between her and Topher is a masterfully-executed argument that indicts Topher and his false allyship without making him a villain.

Spectacular theatrical sci-fi. Jelks' world building in wonderful--the picture of this world very easily fills itself in with the dynamic and well-drawn characters. Nothing feels like "just exposition"--it's all necessary theatrical action. The piece tackles so much--the many-headed nature of racism and white supremacy; the systematic incarceration of Black people; white complicity and white "Devil's Advocates" who only further perpetuate white supremacy and injustice; oppression and violence against women's bodies; and so much more. The theatrical tools used--HYDRA personified, monologue, potent character-driven scenes, songs--are brilliant. Essential reading!

A powerful, unsettling play about trauma, violence against women, and mental health. Despite heavy themes, Jacobs does an excellent job of using theatricality to render disturbing content onstage in a way that doesn't exploit or sensationalize. Her use of Dee, Joy, and Vera is such a potent visual metaphor for the multitudinous effects of violence and abuse and the coping mechanisms that result. I also appreciated that Kasey, who could've fallen into "just the best friend" territory has a satisfying arc--Autumn's mom does too. Part movement theater, part courtroom drama, part lyrical ensemble piece. Would be powerful onstage!

A rich and layered play that explores police brutality, family, and a number of ethical and moral questions in a nuanced fashion. All of the characters are relatable and distinct, and their personalities come alive in one's mind easily as they read through the play. The thing I loved most was the complex examination of Black identity and its intersection with gender, class, skin color and a whole host of other identifiers. The conflicts and conversations shown here illustrate the catch-22's Black folks are required to navigate to live their truths, succeed, and support one another.

A beautiful play that explores Black queer male identity and its poetry, beauty, loneliness, and sense of connection. Everything in this piece is so quiet and intimate while still speaking about the profound depths and intricacies of Felix's and Luc's specific identity intersections. The organic development of their relationship is so gorgeously rendered, and the potent seismic shifts are judiciously revealed for maximum impact. The otherworldly presence of Venus establishes a fantastical theatrical world, and I appreciated how Venus wasn't merely a device, but a powerful figure with an arc of her own. I'd love to see this staged!

A superb play that explores Black gay male identity, Black masculinity, family, forgiveness, and much more with a deft and nuanced hand. The characters' distinct voices come off the page and Icarus' lyrical yet naturalistic monologues/journey punctuate and illuminate the evolving and cautious relationship of Odysseus and Achilles well. I loved that queerness was explored as something that didn't always result in the dissolution of family and parent abandonment, but whose impact on one's life is complex and thorny and inescapable. The theatricality of the piece is glorious as well--I'd love to see the visually rich world onstage.

A sweet, nuanced slice-of-life that explores grief, family, and love. The sisterly relationship between Flora and Viola is humorously and poignantly drawn, and I appreciated the clear emotional journey of each. The introduction of Baudelaire adds tension and surprise to the sisters' preparations for their father's funeral, and I loved how Mahapatra unfolded the mystery man's relationship to their father. It didn't position queer love as a terrifying and shocking reveal, while also using their secretive love to help illustrate the barriers we erect against our family members while alive, and how to begin dismantling those for good.

Spectacular play and sharp, dark comedy/horror that theatricalizes the tropes of many genres wonderfully. Lin nods to the source material is extraordinarily clever ways, but this piece is also just a well-crafted tale exclusive of any Shakespearean origins. Beth is a compelling central character, and I loved how Macbeth's wishy-washy quest for power in the Bard's tale was translated into a defining character trait for Beth that served to comment on gendered and racial/ethnic expectations. The gleefully macabre theatrical world is cohesive and full of some vivdly-rendered and dynamic adolescents. I'd love to see this onstage.

Spectacular and unsettling work that is populated by nuanced and vivid characters. Despite the weighty and often grim themes explored here--abduction and sexual violence, family and grief, abandonment--Kiechel paints this all with deft brushstrokes. She illustrates all of these characters in their multi-dimensional complexity with empathy and care. In Bee (and her mother) is a potent examination of the way girls and women are taught by society to be afraid, and to question, doubt, and feel ashamed for their desires--and the confusing and complex results of those mixed messages and lack of socially-accepted narrative around those things.

Hilarious, sharp satire and a strong chamber musical (go beyond reading the script and listen to the music demos!). As a playwright, it's hard not to appreciate this incisive and funny look at the woes of new play development, identity and power in the non-profit theater world, and the compromises people make to achieve professional artistic success. That said, I believe that any number of audiences will find this a worthwhile and astute exploration of celebrity and the reasons white, patriarchal hegemony still have a stranglehold on the American theater.