Recommended by Rachael Carnes

Charming and funny, this two-hander crackles with delightful reveals that anyone anywhere who's ever tried to rent in a tough market will relate to. Ward bobs and weaves through this hilarious patter, building to a crescendo both satisfying and surprising. Great fun!

Head-spinning wordplay zips along in this delightful confection about life, love and possibilities. Hayden structures the play with dizzying symmetry, at-once starting a life together, and reflecting back on it. I heard a reading of the work and was so glad to have the chance to go read it on NPX, to see a little more clearly how the writer builds the craft of the play with such seeming ease! A remarkable, fun new work.

Only someone with the heart and mind of Matthew Weaver can find a child in her mother's arms...Nestled in the celestial firmament. One page, and I'm gutted! Gorgeous, resonant work.

A gorgeous slice-of-life, in a life that's not normal - For anyone, is it? - in Covid-19. O'Doherty's play bubbles with bright humor and pivots dynamically, revealing an emotional depth that took my breath away. A real, resonant piece, and a terrific playground for a creative team.

A smart, timely, compelling play, Affoumado draws the audience in with beautifully-hewn characters, rich and detailed, profoundly human, whose dialogue crackles throughout this drum-tight plot. This play snaps along with breakneck urgency, reminding us that as we dither about politics, real lives are at stake. Smartly training a light on the past, Affoumado confronts the inequities of the present, and asks us to look in our conscience, to envision what future we want to chart for this country. A clarion call to exercise our right to VOTE. I saw a reading of this play recently, and won't ever forget it.

Bwahahaha! What a treat. If you miss in-person theatre (who doesn't?) and need a laugh (we all do) then check out this delightful send up of Community Theatre and all its internal dramas and travails. The characters and concept in Floyd-Priskorn's wonderful play seem pulled from real life, universally relatable, and funny as heck. I think this would work on Zoom, too! It's great fun.

A couple explores the external pressures of their community and the world at large, and how it bears down on their sense of peace, in this touching, relatable play. Lewis gets at the heart of intersecting conflicts - The pandemic, politics, and the omnipresence of violence against BIPOC people in this country - and finds a way forward in the strength that these two characters bring to their loving relationship. I recently heard a podcast of this, through the Open Door Playhouse, and it works so well as an audio drama. Like being right in the room. Brava!

This is what's at stake, as collective misinformation and downright sensationalism veering on total insanity obfuscate science -- real lives, and many real *young* lives -- upended, and cut short. Burdick's empathetic approach allows us to look at a moment through the eyes of someone with everything to look forward to, who thought she had nothing to lose. How will we make our way out of this? I don't know... But theatre like this invites a conversation that can be a starting place.

Hageman: I'm gutted! Few writers can do in so little real estate - just a few pages - what this writer accomplishes, in craft, cognition, in *compassion* for self, and others. Subtleties of gentle wit shine within a firmament of emotion, reminding us that even when things feel dark, scattered, raw, there's always light to be found within.

What an exquisite piece of writing. A dark, scary tale - nestled within a genuinely romantic, deeply-felt, and darkly comic monologue. Partain makes it look (or sound) easy - But this is crafted expertly, with subtleties of imagination that create familiarity and a visceral connection to the moment. Brava.