Recommended by Dave Osmundsen

Contemporary online discourse has taken words such as “trauma” and “gaslighting” and applied so many situations to them that their fundamental meanings get lost. “The Activist” surgically and sharply examines how meaning and intent of the words we use impact our personal and professional lives. Several fantastic monologues here (the one about the meaning of “Beauty and the Beast” is particularly amusing) and an approach to the use of language that is both cautious and incisive.

Slithering seamlessly through time and space, this magical and moving memory play explores how ambition, failure, and the bonds of family can haunt one throughout their life. Both stunningly theatrical and emotionally resonant, this play maintains its magic by never forgetting the core relationship between Magician and Sister. I also appreciated learning about the sadly forgotten histories of female magicians and escape artists. The final pages of this play will live with me for a long time.

Small town bureaucracy, tyrannical hippos, and human-to-hippo transformation are the key components of this absurd political satire. Gonzalez brilliantly captures and sharply satirizes the verbal cartwheels and backflips of small town politics, the overthinking that impacts collective decision-making, and how bureaucratic protocol prevents action against a dangerous foe. The stage directions are a particularly witty treat, and the hippo itself presents a spectacular design challenge.

What a tense, rapid-fire, unhinged, darkly brilliant, and stunningly theatrical play! Behind the absurd and high-stakes scenario is a lacerating satire about what women put their bodies through in order to win. By the end, the audience is indicted as voyeurs of watching each finely-etched character put her health and well-being on the line for our entertainment. I cannot wait to see this play staged soon!

This play is gutsy (no pun intended), gory, and fabulous! I loved the world-building of this play and the protagonist's journey from innocent to Witch. I also loved Sherry, whose journey served as a beautiful counterpoint to Dot's arc. Smartly crafted dialogue keeps the tone horrifying and hilarious, which is challenging to pull off, but there are also real moments of heart here. Ambitious designers will love the challenge of multiple locations and the gory special effects.

What a wild ride this play takes the audience on! A queer love story that turns deadly, this dark comedy is hilarious and compelling, successfully ratcheting up the stakes all the way to its giddily bloody conclusion (which gives new meaning to the phrase "karma is a b*tch). I also appreciated the subtle world building, smoothly incorporating the fantastical elements into a realistic setting. True crime junkies will also appreciate the gentle ribbing of the True Crime podcast. Fantastic work!

Changing rooms are a minefield of confused sexuality, body insecurity, and emotional vulnerability. Playwright Kyle Smith ratchets this milieu up by centering the painful journey of a trans/agender character whose painful coming out results in his relationship with his water polo teammates disintegrating as their camaraderie grows over the course of a contentious season. The audience viscerally feels Titus’ pain and isolation as they come into their own, and anger at the team’s treatment of them. A fantastic and powerful play about what we lose to become our true authentic selves.

Thomas Hardy’s famously tragic indictment of hypocritical Victorian morals is given an intensely visceral spin in Brian Scanlan’s play. A poem as much as a play, Scanlan incisively interrogates the stigmas and consequences of addiction and what happens when society fails to care for those struggling with addiction, much like how Hardy condemned society’s treatment of “fallen women.” Moving, powerful, and heartbreaking, “hurt people/hurt people” is a necessary play in our national conversation about addiction and treatment. It is also a beautiful character study of desperation, trauma, and survival. Fantastic work!

Neurodiversity, grief, critical theory, mental illness, and queerness are only a few themes deftly explored in this economic yet expansive coming-of-age tale. Jackson’s quest to carve an identity for himself as he begins his freshman year of college brings him to the darkest moment of his past. How much of a toll this will take on him, and how it will impact his loved ones, is a question I couldn’t help but invest in. It felt like a metaphysical take on “Proof” in the best way. Lovely play!

A haunting and haunted story that examines friendship, class, family, addiction, self-destruction, and local mythology. Ghosts travel through this play like the Hudson Valley region this play takes place in. Richly drawn characters, pitch-perfect dialogue, and imaginatively vivid stagecraft populate this moving story. A perfect play for young actors!