Recommended by Nick Malakhow

Oglesby creates a super specific, evocative, and boldly theatrical landscape here. The dialogue simultaneously captures the imperfect rhythms of natural speech as well as a heightened, dark lyricism. The dichotomy between Boomer and Dirt is vividly rendered and nuanced. I loved how the dirty, distressing, and profane coexisted with tenderness, loneliness, and connection. While I was amazed at how Oglesby conjured a dry, sunbaked, desolate atmosphere with words and actions alone, I could also clearly see how this would be an appealing piece for designers (as well as directors and performers) with its notable soundscape and atmosphere.

"Ink'dWell" is a haunting and well-told ghost story. Adams creates a beautifully theatrical world here that would certainly give directors, designers, and actors a field day. Not only is the world established and aesthetically cohesive and interesting, but she has also crafted five amazing roles, including four spectacular parts for black women. The piece explores universal themes of family secrets and shame, mental health, and repeated patterns in a way that completely acknowledges and highlights and complex, specific intersectional identities of its characters. The ending utilizes empty stage space powerfully, followed by a poignant, cathartic, and hopeful tableaux.

What a fantastic piece! A beautifully executed coming of age that brings a level of nuance, specificity, and inclusivity to the genre that is rare to see. It manages to represent and honor the complexity of Cal's identity while exploring hugely universal themes of belonging, liminality, and many other topics. Simowitz has crafted a distinctly theatrical world here that crackles (sparks?) with love, yearning, and energy, that toys with the idea of how we communicate and misunderstand one another, and that makes visible the invisible experiences and challenges of Deaf individuals, and the multiplicity of experiences within deaf communities.

I had the pleasure of reading this script when purchasing perusals for plays to direct in middle school. This is an awesome, socially conscious, and clever adaptation of the source material! In fact, it's my favorite theatrical JUNGLE BOOK I've read. It is peppered with humor throughout, a propulsive poetry, and vivid characters. The animals' trip to the shallow and materialistic world of the humans adds a fun contempo-anachronistic twist that remains clever rather than gimmicky. I'll definitely be revisiting this when I have the right cast, and I strongly encourage theater educators to take a look!

I loved the nuances and complexities of all of the relationships in this story. Lisa's journey, in particular, is compelling, though all of the characters are well-defined and interesting to watch. From the white Warner's power grab to maintain a semblance of control over his identity, to the uncomfortable and poignant conversation between Sheldon and Natalie, to Lisa's conflicts with and decisions about commodifying her story, Bennett explores numerous issues with a richness and a sharp eye for the intersectionality of the characters. I hope to keep track of the trajectory of this play!

An original, surprising, and nuanced play that puts onstage a boldly theatrical yet intimate world. It's amazing to see young black teens rendered so beautifully and with the complexity, intelligence, and honored desires that these characters have. The dialogue is masterfully observed and each distinct and uniquely-voiced character speaks with the irregular rhythms of natural speech. The piece warms up with skillfully-drawn humor and turns menacing quickly. The disturbing, garbled sound/light interludes punctuate the escalating tension and consistently remind us subtly yet directly of the institutionalized structures, entrenched racism, and the insidious, at-best-indifferent-at-worst-toxic authority figures that poison our society.

A beautifully rendered coming of age story that centers around Jahaan, a vividly-realized character. In fact, all six characters are written as distinct, complex voices and are written with a great deal of care and tenderness for them. Johnson effortlessly slips between the irregular and beautifully captured rhythms of day-to-day speech and a world of heightened poetry--the beauty in both worlds is rich. I also appreciated how, through the dialogue, Johnson captured such a clear sense of place--the sights, sounds, and humidity of this world. This story is so intimately captured and profound in scope. Gorgeously done!

Beautiful, exquisite, profound! I was bowled over by this piece and the opportunity to get to know these four loveable, flawed, and so tenderly-rendered humans. The exciting theatricality--shifting through time, the movement sequences, poignant and punctuating moments of magic--is balanced so adeptly with incredibly well-observed and human dialogue. I especially enjoyed the nuanced and complex treatment of huge topics that are written here with such a fine-tuned instrument--addiction, identity, love, gender, race. The portrayal of Eddie's struggles with addiction, in particular, floored me with its honesty, warmth, and delicacy. I sincerely hope to see this powerful play onstage soon!

Beautiful! The dialogue vibrates with an everyday poetry that somehow feels completely natural, while also heightening and theatricalizing the human, humorous conversations we are privy to. Lazarus plumbs this small and nuanced story to thoroughly explore grief, relationships, regret, family, moving on, and many other parallel issues. The subtle turns and revelations are surprising, never ham-handed, and kept me engaged start to finish. The characters are rendered with care and love, and the end feels cathartic and as if something seismic has shifted without resorting to contrived theatrics. Adelina, Kaila, and Carson's scene near the end was exquisite.

Brilliant theatrical sci-fi! Good science fiction takes the issues of the society from which it's born and refracts them back with a fantastical lens, and "Repossessed" does just that. The memory and persona altering technology employed in this play provides an elegant, straightforward, and yet complex metaphor for the ways we change ourselves to appease partners and friends, the ways we change and adapt as adults to further our own goals, and the tensions and interactions between those two tendencies. All of the characters are vividly rendered and Gretchen's journey, particularly, is compelling and surprising start to finish.