Recommended by Rachael Carnes

A complex conversation on intersectional feminism cached within a comedy with unexpected bite. I heard a reading at the Midwestern Dramatist Center conference that invited a lively and thought provoking response from the audience.

Like "Downton Abbey" on acid, this wonderfully rich little world is a pure delight. Chock full of nutty characters, with cracking dialogue and a bonkers steampunk vibe, Adams' hilarious new play was a huge hit with the audience at the Midwestern Dramatists Center conference.

A multidimensional dialogue, pitting white, faith-based evangelical idolatry against a rational perspective, amplified by a young person of color. I heard an intriguing staged reading of the play at the Midwestern Dramatist Center conference and was taken with its broken fourth wall and challenging dialectic about contemporary concerns.

A staged reading of this play at the Midwestern Dramatists Center conference brought such a wonderful emotional range and nuance in this play for two teens. Charming and relatable, this sweet story explores so much in such a brief time. A play about what's said, and what isn't.

I heard a staged reading of this play at the 2019 Midwestern Dramatist Center conference, and enjoyed its historical vision of an uncertain future, both global and interpersonal. Funny and dark, with lively characters and sharp pacing.

Holy crap! This play is a gut punch. And as a parent who's preparing to launch her child into a broken higher education system, this world, the desperation and deep shame of debt that Gacinski explores hits all the hard notes. A raw, visceral piece, with an interesting, empathetic character at its core.

What if a planet could go on a date? That's the premise behind Bultrowicz's sharp, illuminating comedy about... environmental destruction. A play like this joins the march of a long line of absurditist visitations on a reality almost too abysmal to face head on. A great pick for a festival focused on climate change and the impact of the anthropocene era.

Pure delight! Hoke's inventive set-up (Hello: Talking plants!) rewards with cracking conversation, a spectrum of characters, ranging from lovable to lamentable, in this swift-moving comedy that asks us to consider our hang-ups about sex. Witty, fun, with depth and a myriad of design and directorial possibilities, this play would be sooo much fun for any creative team.

A poignant play to read anytime, but on 9/10? A story heartbreaking in its candor yet humanely compassionate in its telling: Haas explores the grief that clings to three sisters, who lost their mother in the events of 9/11, and in doing, taps into the universalities of love and remembrance. How can I move forward, if to do so, means letting go of someone I care about? There's such beautiful relationships interwoven in these three women's lives. A play about memory, and life, and moving forward.

Even though this couple has the best of intentions, as they embark on a dubious "retreat", they can't mask their simmering dysfunctions that spill out across the present, as each dredging sling and arrow wounds a little deeper. Schwartz's compelling dialogue crackles in this three-hander that digs into a subject that is so common, yet underrepresented onstage.