Recommended by Nick Malakhow

I enjoyed this haunting and funny play--a good combination! Bultrowicz utilizes double-casting well to examine the complexities and intersections of grief, mental health, family dysfunction, and moving on. The relationship between Camila and Liam is warm and full of good humor, and the living memories of her parents poignant with a somewhat menacing undercurrent. Revelations come at a steady pace, even though the piece ends with some satisfyingly ambiguous mystery. The two timelines collide in the final, appropriately theatrical moment.

I loved reading this expanded universe from the world of "This Car Trip Suckss!" With just four vividly-drawn characters, Weingarten executes a fully fleshed-out exploration of familial relationships, friendship, recovery and treatment facilities, and emerging sexuality AND the intersection of those things with body and self-image and mental health. The world manages to be both super heightened and entertainingly theatrical, while also grounded in strong emotional truths. Weingarten's work is so identifiable by its hilarity, sharp satire, multi-dimensionality, and distinctly cadenced dialogue. I'd love to see this alive and onstage!

I was hooked by this briskly-paced piece from the start! Dzida has created a bold theatrical world that pieces together tense and heightened naturalism, movement/dance, meta-theatricality, and brilliantly executed adaptation. She subverts and explodes the canon in unexpected and satisfying ways. The dynamic she sets up between the five central women in the piece in part 1 is a potent microcosm of how women are pitted against one another, and her refracting of Abigail Williams' narrative through several different iterations wrenchingly illustrates the entrenched misogyny, violence, and oppression that undergirds "the canon." The end is satisfying--things need exploding!

A theatrical event that embraces glorious spectacle and an acerbic sense of humor. Lawing creates a compelling and creative world filled with delightfully queer historical figures from ancient times to recent history. This absurd and satirical romp uses its larger than life style to both entertain and touch upon in a humorous way the evolving social mores in the gay community. The mix of camp, salaciousness, and what could be creatively handled design elements make this a play equally at home environmentally staged in a queer bar/alternative space or a theater.

A beautiful and haunting play that examines, with a fine-tooth comb, a complex and dysfunctional relationship. I so appreciated how one could both take this story in a straightforward fashion--the exploration of a troubled dynamic between two people who need to grow beyond one another--and also as a microcosm that represents larger cultural values. Jeremy, sad as certain elements of his story might be, feels indicative of a broader, entitled individualism that gets at the heart of one problematic aspect of America. Also, though it is a play made of monologues, the text was lyrical, spare, and briskly-paced. Lovely!

An absolutely ingenious and brilliantly theatrical play that is in conversation with Shakespeare's work and tackles the universality of themes such as outsidership, alienation, assimilation, and racism. The dialogue is immensely readable and also profoundly lyrical at times. The worlds of R+J, Othello, Merchant, and Titus are woven together in such an unexpected yet seamless fashion. The central conversations about race and belonging both do justice by characters who are given short shrift by Shakespeare himself, while also echoing contemporary ways people compromise their identities to fit into spaces that don't and seemingly never will welcome them.

A really compelling play about friendship, mortality, and how we change and stay the same as we come of age and grow apart (physically or emotionally). I loved the examination of male friendship and masculinity that was embedded in the characters' interactions in subtle and nuanced ways, especially the representation of multiple kinds of masculinities and how those traits informed relationships and each character's sense of self. Young has an amazing gift for tempo and structure--drawing us in with an energized, raucous beginning, unveiling key information at essential points/shifts, and ending both acts with stunning, well-earned dramatics.

A complex, genre-bending play that captures both the moment we're living in and the seeds/roots of those issues as well. The first part, a subversion of the "privileged people gathering for a dinner party" trope, complicates the trope by so intricately and astutely examining the intersectional identities of the characters. The discussions of Latinx, Afro-Latinx, and Black identity, queerness, class privilege, and their intersections resonate deeply with me. The power of Lynett's part two direct address comes not only in her challenge to white audiences, but also in her resolve to populate the theatrical canon with nuanced, intersectional work.

A masterfully executed family drama that transcends standard genre tropes and combines poetry, a fluid timeline, impactful double casting, and a potent storyline. Young's theatrical world is heightened yet human. He explores the fallout of an unspeakable tragedy and the ways that different people move forward, stagnate, or backwards in their grief. The characters in this fractured family are multi-dimensional and sympathetic. Q connects with the audience from the start, and it is hard not to be moved by his journey. The stage pictures are captivating as well--I'd love to see a creative director and design team realize this!

An absolutely spectacular theatrical event. It combines an incredibly well-defined sci-fi world, dance and movement, amazing opportunities for creative design and direction, and a large ensemble of bold and distinct characters for Black actors, with an emphasis on young Black folks in particular. I was bowled over by this vivid theatrical world! Kristiana Rae Colón explores institutional/structural racism and oppression in schooling, discipline, the school to prison pipeline, police violence, and the ways these structures pit Black people (old and young) against one another and uphold white supremacy. I must see this live some day!