Recommended by Rachael Carnes

Brilliant in its succinctness and breathtaking in its physicality, this play by Partain is a masterclass in what you can do with just a few pages. A complete world, inviting and scary, with boundless possibilities for a creative team.

This is a marvelous play for young people that captures so elegantly the experience of isolation, fear and frustration that comes with Covid-19 lockdowns and youth. I recently shared the piece (with the artist's permission) in a playwriting class for teens, and I was amazed at the level of candor and communication the play inspired, as though these young people were looking for the means to process what they'd collectively endured, as they look for meaning moving forward. A beautiful, funny, inspiring piece. Brava!

A beautiful ode to family and the recipe for facing grief, together. Haas’s masterful dialogue sings with humor and heart. This play made me long for homemade Italian food, no really - it’s mouthwatering in the way it depicts cooking - and it made me feel a soulful connection between older traditions and sustaining the future.

I've been looking for an artistic creation that could use comedy to explore this infuriating/confusing/unending chapter in American history, and this deft play takes us to Fall 2016, when the idea of hackers overthrowing democracy became fodder for daily conversation. Rubin's bracing pace land jokes throughout, yet there's a river of humanity flowing in the subtext of this winning piece. A recent staged reading at Theatre 33 brought out all the comic rhythms - clearly, any creative team will have a blast working on this all-too-timely new play.

Creative, compelling, wholly theatrical, this unique play drills into a moment in history, spilling forth a river of politics, economy, societal structures, and proverbial family questions, that feel relevant to today. Ho's dialogue engages with wit and an underlying humanness.

Oooooo chilling! No spoilers. Super noir, fun scenic design elements, taut dialogue. Great twist.

Maybe it's my spending the last 15 months interacting in real life with only one other adult most days, but this play seems relevant and relatable, as a marker of time, and the ephemera of living with another person. Two characters, one looking back, the other towards the future, both trapped in the Zoom world of wonder... It's poignant and pithy, a wry comedy, exploring age-old arguments.

We all know an O'Donnell. Maybe he was an overbearing college prof. Maybe we've worked for the guy. Maybe we have the misfortune of being related to him. But he's out there: A bloviated, entitled know-it-all, so full of hot air, yet somehow shielded by the structures of inequity that ensconce him. Well, how richly satisfying to see the barriers assailed, the briars surrounding academia hacked by our hero, Serena. The tension in this tête-à-tête ratchets up throughout, leading to a satisfying conclusion.

Okay, this play might include my favorite opening stage direction *ever*. What a treat! Weeks crafts a hilarious romp through time and space, with deft world-building and a magical realism so magical, that it seems real. Part parody, part parable, relevant and relatable, this play will be a field day for a creative team. Such fun!

A deeply moving family drama exploring Austin's family of origin, and his parents' inability to roll with change. Robkin artfully develops these rich, multifaceted characters, whose competing wants and needs exchange the dynamic of loss and renewal with tremendous emotional facility. This play should be required viewing in every regional theatre in America. Read this now. Produce this yesterday.