Recommended by Nick Malakhow

This is a potent and unsettling collection of scenes that examines the relationship of two boys over a long and eventful period. It is always intriguing to see what has completely changed and what has remained that same at each new notch in the chronology of the play. Chad and Blake are perfectly troubled characters whose search for connection and love makes them sympathetic through very disturbing circumstances. Schmidt explores with sensitivity and complexity people (the boys plus others) trapped by their socio-cultural context and other forces and whose potential is snuffed out before it can catch fire.

What a beautiful, nuanced, and laser-focused piece that explores huge themes like identity, queerness and queer identity formation in the context of Christianity, coming of age, and faith. Jabez and Ryan are two absolutely endearing characters that Tseng renders with a loving and sensitive touch. The structural conceits of us wandering back and forth through time and the punctuating musical interludes make for a highly theatrical piece with a lot of awesome stage pictures and moments embedded within it. The conversations between these two boys treat them as realistic and intelligent teens. I'd love to see this onstage!

I loved the four dynamic characters in this piece and how well-rendered they are. Vanderark takes the "four folks trading barbs over an ill-fated night" genre and makes it feel contemporary, fresh, and unencumbered by the WASP-y privilege of classics written by the likes of Albee and O'Neill. To that end, the terrifying and explosive partnership of Joanna and Paul feels like a more accessible, heightened exploration of toxic relationships. The play steamrolls through to an inevitable climax that reiterates the cycles of such relationships. Danni is a delightful audience stand-in watching the evening implode. Great (and distressing?!) fun!

This play covers so much over the course of its briskly-moving single act. We connect so deeply to Remy and Pup as individuals, while at the same time watching a nuanced and complex exploration of grief, family, parenting, coming of age, addiction, and identity. Remy and Pup's unique parent-child relationship is so beautifully and tenderly rendered--there is so much evident love between them--while St. Croix still sets up palpable conflicts between them. I really appreciated that this was a two-character piece and yet I felt such a rich sense of the people and world around them. Gorgeous work!

This play is hugely theatrical, nuanced, funny, and unsettling all at once. Ferber avoids making easy villains out of his characters and plumbs the complexities of the ways they interact with people virtually and in real life to explore the empowering anonymity of the internet and the nascent seeds of frustration, fear, alienation, pain, and hurt that always seem to risk curdling into hatred. The way the online world is theatricalized here is bold, well-defined, and aesthetically interesting while, at the same time, open-ended enough for different production teams to leave their own imprint on the text. Exciting work!

What a funny, poignant, and, above all, human story about connection, grief, and moving on. The four characters in Wood's play are all vividly-rendered and have loaded and nuanced relationships with one another. The piece moves with a beautifully irregular tempo--hilarious, awkward, and complex interactions are punctuated by more contemplative moments of solitude and potent stage pictures. That said, even though Wood doesn't try to force explosive theatrics, the play always feels brisk and perpetually engaging. In the end, there are no easy answers to grief and estrangement, yet the final scene feels hopeful and satisfying. Beautiful work!

I loved the heightened and hilarious theatrical world Pilapil creates in BEFORE AND AFTER. It feels like both an homage to and subversion of teen movies that complicates the typically white-hetero lens that permeates these kinds of films. All of the characters are painted in bold, saturated colors, and the satirical antics entertain while also zeroing in on oft-neglected topics in the genre--namely calling out and exploring misogyny, racism, homophobia, and the social structures that pit young women against one another. It would be a blat to see this onstage!

An exquisite and beautiful play that explores grief in a nuanced and uniquely theatrical way. Every character rings with truth and humanity. Bethea's extremely complex relationships with Gideon and Myles (and her grief) in the aftermath of Myles' death feel so multi-dimensional and beautifully realized. I love how Rivers tells this story in nuanced scenes that avoid melodramatics. The culminating explosive moments feel earned and well worth waiting for. The spectre of Myles haunts the Solomon family but not in a gimmicky or overwrought way. The ending stage picture--as well as many before it--is sublime!

A beautiful, haunting, gorgeous play! The central four young people in this play are so deftly rendered. It's so rare to have such complex roles for young people in a vividly-realized theatrical world that would great theater for audiences of all ages and types. The specificity of the relationships and the amazing stage pictures and fantastical elements give this both an epic/mythic feel with an intimate focus. I'd love to see this world realized onstage. It's a director, designer, and actor's dream. I look forward to following its trajectory.

This lyrical play is a wrenchingly beautiful theatrical fable. The stage pictures, spare lyricism, and direct but complex visual metaphors all come together in a wonderfully unique and cohesive aesthetic whole. This play was uniquely symbolic/theatrically alienating and emotionally potent all at the same time. Hill explores huge topics--identity, toxic patriarchal structures and culture, and the forces in the world that pit women and femme-identifying folks against one another just to name a few--in an intimate and startling way. While there is much terror and tragedy at the end, K's shift points mournfully/hopefully towards paradigm shifting.