Recommended by Sarah Tuft

POSSESSION offers deep insights into the nature of “white woman” privilege, simultaneously capturing its blindness while illuminating its roots, without excusing it. Creating an entire world to hide from her trauma, the play’s protagonist, Ava clings to her creation, oblivious to the forces she nurtures. Her willful ignorance is the play’s point. And its hypnotic spell draws us in as its characters’ more venal motives clash. In the end, POSSESSION speaks to the cycle of oppression as well as the poison that is cherishing “our history” at the expense of its victims. This powerhouse play must be produced!!

EVEN FLOWERS BLOOM IN HELL, SOMETIMES is that rare play that manages to weave poetry into a play whose carefully designed journey is a master class in structure. Each of this play’s characters are carefully drawn, fully lived-in people from a population that society would prefer to not acknowledge. Their authenticity allows Gonzalez to fill their voices with the questions we all yearn to ask. The resulting mix of music, musings and maddening events is sheer magic. EVEN FLOWERS BLOOM IN HELL, SOMETIMES needs to bloom on someone’s stages. Now.

WITCH HUNT is a long overdue retelling of Tituba’s story. Contrary to the cartoonish person of color in Miller’s THE CRUCIBLE, the real Tituba was an Indigenous American, likely kidnapped into her servitude. The play follows her story from the first spark of suspicion against her, one based on colonialism, to her fight for survival as she becomes the first target of the witch-hunt. But the play avoids easy sentiment by making Tituba a martyr. Instead, WITCH HUNT is told with empathy, imagination, lyricism, rich imagery and a love for both Tituba and her storytelling.

FUKT is an explosion of a play. And the combustible material is Truth… the nature of it, how it reveals itself, and how it hides from anyone who needs it for their very survival. Emma Goldman-Sherman has done nearly the impossible in this searing play… she has found a way to tell a highly personal story in a manner that makes it, not just relatable, but experiential for us, her audience. And yet despite the story’s inherent pain, FUKT is infused with wit, entertainment, and a deep compassionate understanding of what it is to be human.

Fast-paced and exquisitely crafted, BRILLIANT WORKS OF ART follows an unfettered young woman doing what she must to have it all. Lucky for us, the two men in her life are equally as good at getting what they want. And so, these three lives collide. Best of all, this play is all show and no tell. By allowing her characters to follow their desires to their inevitable ends, Hoke has given us a window into the complex relationship between sex and power, money and agency, barter and bribe. Love to see this staged!!

FRIENDS WITH GUNS is a powerful portrait of progressive parents in the era of polarization and post-Trump panic. Especially poignant is its portrayal of a mother’s isolation, out of which grows her desperation for adult company. Equally truthful is the play’s portrait of that timeless need of married couples to “couple” with other married couples. FRIENDS WITH GUNS veers toward satire but only briefly as a sort of gotcha for what lies ahead. Because, there is an obstacle to all this kumbaya. It explodes, along with all the other carefully constructed tensions in this nail-biter of a play.

EIGHT NIGHTS is a master class in “less is more” speaking volumes. The play examines family, heritage, and trauma in a lyrical portrait of ties that bind. How does trauma get passed down through generations even when actively guarded against? How does resilience, born of trauma, also get passed on, even if only subconsciously? Is it possible to move forward without looking back? These are the questions that Maisel asks in her stunning EIGHT NIGHTS. The play is brilliantly constructed, effortlessly engaging-- thanks to Maisel's character work and poetry-- and heart-wrenchingly beautiful. And so timely. World premiere this beauty now.

On one level, TEACH is a ruthless exploration of how gender and sexual preference impact power dynamics in psychosexual relationships. But only a few minutes into the play and the examination falls away leaving behind a story about people’s lives with consequences that matter. I know how I feel about imbalance of power in romances. But what I enjoyed most about this play, is that Hoke doesn’t. Or at least, she doesn’t show her hand. She just shows her heart. Staging this gem would be an engaging experience for both theaters and audiences!

THROUGH THE EYE OF THE NEEDLE is the Christmas story that rings true every day of the year. But don’t let its farcical moments and holiday spirit fool you. While being a perfect time capsule of a post-9/11 world-the Iraq War, 2008 recession and Occupy Wall Street-the play avoids the era’s politics and instead looks at faith and how we manage loss. Ultimately, the play encourages us to face our grief and through it, find each other. THROUGH THE EYE OF THE NEEDLE offers a perfect storm that provides its characters with an opportunity to do just that.

WOLVES AT THE DOOR is a searing window into the personal tragedy behind the headlines of gun violence. The play centers on the mother of a little girl murdered in a mass shooting. Despite a series of well-meaning interventions from her husband, her ex, a pastor, a psychic, and law-enforcement, her grief cannot be unabated. Meanwhile, her rage is further inflamed by the violent harassment she is forced to endure. WOLVES AT THE DOOR which dramatizes the futility of “thoughts and prayers" while also giving us a simple and heartbreaking portrait of grief, packs a punch.