Recommended by Nick Malakhow

Strayer gives us a large ensemble of dynamic and well-rendered young people and, through them, manages to explore a whole host of issues including trauma, learning disabilities, mental health, and identities of all kinds in nuanced and innovative ways. This piece also gives directors and designers much to work with as they consider the storytelling elements which could be tackled in any number of ways utilizing movement, dance, and lights/sets/sound. Teachers of young people should take a look at this piece, which has lots of expansion possibility and treats its teen characters with care and respect.

Wow! I loved this piece. The heightened, hilarious, and terrifying tone is so compelling to read. I just loved how Diaz used satire and absurdity to explore social truths about adolescence, growing up, parenting, the ways family can fuck you up and the messy business of trying to escape those cycles. The everyday poetry of some of the language is so beautiful and coexists with some super dark but sidesplitting humor. I never imagined how poignant the violent death of a flour sack baby could be. Memorable moments, stage images, and characters.

This genre-bending and playfully, sharply written piece explores with such complexity anti-blackness and intersectionality within various Black communities. There is so much examined here--the human tendency to other, categorize, and marginalize; the intersection of homophobia and other forms of prejudice and oppression; the multitude of what "Black identity" is; the dangers of utopia--in two short and potent acts. The internal realities established in each of the two acts, the fourth-wall-breaking direct address, the intriguing potential for novel design elements could feel chaotic in the wrong hands, but Lynett creates such a fully-realized, singular theatrical world that cohesively gels. Fantastic!

Amazing! Simpson utilizes a fantastical and absurd theatrical reality to potently explore the disenfranchisement, abuse, and continual existential dread Black women in America must face daily. This piece also looks at the ways society tries to alienate, isolate, and pit women against one another, and how community, affinity, and fellowship lead to healing. The role and responsibility of men in this work is also addressed deftly. The story is both human and emotionally resonant while also having some of the boldest and most memorable visual metaphors I've experienced in a play. The ending sequence, in particular, is evocative.

A spectacular, nuanced, and sex positive play that manages to explore many aspects of consent, power, patriarchy, and sexual violence. Violet's journey is illuminating as the play shows her evolving sense of her own desires and relationship to her sexuality. I was amazed at how this piece both illustrates straightforward examples of consent and the building blocks to healthy sexual relationships while also showing how the enduring legacy of patriarchy, misogyny, and sexual violence perpetrated by men continues to distort and inform people desperately trying to move past such toxic and abusive structures and behaviors. Incredibly done and impactful!

This piece is rich in its aesthetic sensibilities, thematic exploration, and characterization. Berry thoughtfully explores so much--the intersection of art, legacy, mental illness, class; historical queer erasure; huge questions about the function and meaning of art both for artists who create it and those who consume it. That's really just the tip of the iceberg as well. The genre-bending theatrics that accompany, including direct address and externalized stream of consciousness, punctuating movement sequences, and more combine to create a chaotic but cohesive theatrical world. I look forward to following this play's trajectory and, hopefully, seeing it live some day!

A unique and engaging play that balances a fine line between realism and heightened theatricality. S MJ examines boundaries in inventive ways, illustrating how power dynamics, identity, socio-economic background, and other intersecting identifiers inform relationships. The movement sequences that punctuate the scenes are packed with character and thematic info and would be a perfect place for a production team to leave its unique mark on the piece.

A potent and nuanced piece that explores the complex and fractured relationship between two brothers. Zimmerman captures perfectly the compromises, betrayals, and catch-22's that come with trying to carve a place in white, hegemonic systems of power as a non-white person. I loved how the narrative was compelling in and of itself, while also serving as a larger figurative examination of divides in the Latino community based on class, colorism, family, and worldview. There are so many striking sensory and visual images, not the least of which is the final jarring tableau.

Grateful for this piece as a middle school teacher. This piece captures the chaos and irregular humanity of Zoom meetings in general, but especially between young folks. With humor and warmth and subtlety, Carnes manages to provide an entertaining short and examine the ebbing and flowing emotions of physically disconnected (and unevenly socially connected) life in our current moment. Teachers look at this for large group scene study!

A contemplative and unique 10 minute piece. The 10-minute play can lend itself to predictable structure for the sake of simplicity and straightforwardness--this piece manages to have a unique and irregular structure while still giving the reader/viewer a story with a definitive change and intriguing turn of events. I love how the Icarus myth itself is explored, but also the practice of storytelling, mythmaking, evolution, and legacy passing in general.