Recommended by Dave Osmundsen

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    A horrifyingly brutal and visceral allegory for the horrors of war, "people" depicts a world where animals live harmoniously and comfortably. When Invaders barge in, the lines between prey and predator, between, actor and audience, and between play and event, begin to crash. The play continues its relentless string of horrors, resulting in a final devastating moment that perfectly encapsulates this play's willingness to make the audience uncomfortable and complicit. Powerful work!

    A horrifyingly brutal and visceral allegory for the horrors of war, "people" depicts a world where animals live harmoniously and comfortably. When Invaders barge in, the lines between prey and predator, between, actor and audience, and between play and event, begin to crash. The play continues its relentless string of horrors, resulting in a final devastating moment that perfectly encapsulates this play's willingness to make the audience uncomfortable and complicit. Powerful work!

  • Wilt

    by Baylee Shlichtman

    What a strange, fantastical, and shocking fantasy/horror this is! Shlichtman boldly and vividly constructs a world that reveals itself gradually, using fairy tale logic to build a landscape of whispering flowers, an obstinate kitchen, and a toy elephant. She has also written a haunting mystery that explores the limits of love, reciprocated or not, and deconstructs the persona of a "nice guy" to disturbing effect. Designers looking for a challenge will love this world, too. Haunting work!

    What a strange, fantastical, and shocking fantasy/horror this is! Shlichtman boldly and vividly constructs a world that reveals itself gradually, using fairy tale logic to build a landscape of whispering flowers, an obstinate kitchen, and a toy elephant. She has also written a haunting mystery that explores the limits of love, reciprocated or not, and deconstructs the persona of a "nice guy" to disturbing effect. Designers looking for a challenge will love this world, too. Haunting work!

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    One of the rare dementia plays I read that honors and centers the experience of someone undergoing dementia, "Fran and Dad Are Here" smartly avoids the common tropes of "burden" and "Don't you remember?" that are often attributed to these plays. Instead, it is warm, tender, and intimate. It gives the protagonist a strong inner life that honors the past, present, and near future. Beautiful play!

    One of the rare dementia plays I read that honors and centers the experience of someone undergoing dementia, "Fran and Dad Are Here" smartly avoids the common tropes of "burden" and "Don't you remember?" that are often attributed to these plays. Instead, it is warm, tender, and intimate. It gives the protagonist a strong inner life that honors the past, present, and near future. Beautiful play!

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    This play presents a group of people who feel like an organic friend group, complete with banter, history, and tough love. Going deeper, this play tackles how one person's decision impacts everyone others, whether it's others' business or not. Johnson displays a deep-seated empathy for all the characters and how they want to live their lives. Each of them are trying to live the life that has been prescribed to them, and grapple with the different decisions others make. A lovely play!

    This play presents a group of people who feel like an organic friend group, complete with banter, history, and tough love. Going deeper, this play tackles how one person's decision impacts everyone others, whether it's others' business or not. Johnson displays a deep-seated empathy for all the characters and how they want to live their lives. Each of them are trying to live the life that has been prescribed to them, and grapple with the different decisions others make. A lovely play!

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    A potent portrayal of Autistic grief, "a witness" gradually reveals itself as a story of five funny, vulnerable, and lost people navigating loss and estrangement. Jordan Bird doesn't allow us a tidy resolution--she allows us to sit with the emotional carnage these people have created. Maybe they'll forgive each other, maybe they won't. But forgiveness isn't the point: It's seeing each other, understanding each other, despite our messed-up actions.

    A potent portrayal of Autistic grief, "a witness" gradually reveals itself as a story of five funny, vulnerable, and lost people navigating loss and estrangement. Jordan Bird doesn't allow us a tidy resolution--she allows us to sit with the emotional carnage these people have created. Maybe they'll forgive each other, maybe they won't. But forgiveness isn't the point: It's seeing each other, understanding each other, despite our messed-up actions.

  • Dave Osmundsen: The Resolution by Daniel Prillaman
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    Erin is a Millennial Hedda Gabler. One day, she decides to become a darker and more sadistic person, claiming power in a society that denies her autonomy. How this impacts her caring and supportive friends is both horrifying and hysterical to watch (a box of "some old shit" comes into play). Prillaman's dialogue reads almost like a Yorgos Lanthimos film--precise, polite, yet with a Swiss army knife hidden in plain sight. This play will leave audiences beguiled and provoked. Brilliant work!

    Erin is a Millennial Hedda Gabler. One day, she decides to become a darker and more sadistic person, claiming power in a society that denies her autonomy. How this impacts her caring and supportive friends is both horrifying and hysterical to watch (a box of "some old shit" comes into play). Prillaman's dialogue reads almost like a Yorgos Lanthimos film--precise, polite, yet with a Swiss army knife hidden in plain sight. This play will leave audiences beguiled and provoked. Brilliant work!

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  • Dave Osmundsen: Tumbleweed by Marcus Scott
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    A hysterical and deeply layered family drama, Marcus Scott's "Tumbleweed" is also incredibly empathetic, smart, and compelling. Beyond the family dynamics, this play explores the place of Black men and women in society, particularly how they are judged through a white lens. Scott also creates a stunning character in Rebecca, a white woman who struggles to be the most affirming mother for her mixed-race daughters. The ending is brilliant and chilling. Fantastic work!

    A hysterical and deeply layered family drama, Marcus Scott's "Tumbleweed" is also incredibly empathetic, smart, and compelling. Beyond the family dynamics, this play explores the place of Black men and women in society, particularly how they are judged through a white lens. Scott also creates a stunning character in Rebecca, a white woman who struggles to be the most affirming mother for her mixed-race daughters. The ending is brilliant and chilling. Fantastic work!

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  • Dave Osmundsen: ACCOMMODATION by Greg Burdick
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    What begins as a standoff between an inflexible teacher and a helicopter parent becomes a complex and poignant portrait of internalized ableism, generational neurodiversity, and an education system that increasingly devalues its teachers. Burdick’s writing becomes increasingly layered as the play goes on, anchored by a fascinating and complicated protagonist. This play left me both intellectually stimulated and emotionally moved.

    What begins as a standoff between an inflexible teacher and a helicopter parent becomes a complex and poignant portrait of internalized ableism, generational neurodiversity, and an education system that increasingly devalues its teachers. Burdick’s writing becomes increasingly layered as the play goes on, anchored by a fascinating and complicated protagonist. This play left me both intellectually stimulated and emotionally moved.

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  • Dave Osmundsen: The Meeting by Brian James Polak
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    A must-read play for our times, "The Meeting" depicts a group of artists holding a forbidden gathering to figure out their place in a world where art is banned. What follows is a meditation on the use of art-societal, practical, emotional-and the human impulse to create. Despite the tense atmosphere, but I felt a strong sense of safety and kinship among these characters. A plea to artists to never stop creating, "The Meeting" is funny, moving, and everything theatre can and should be.

    A must-read play for our times, "The Meeting" depicts a group of artists holding a forbidden gathering to figure out their place in a world where art is banned. What follows is a meditation on the use of art-societal, practical, emotional-and the human impulse to create. Despite the tense atmosphere, but I felt a strong sense of safety and kinship among these characters. A plea to artists to never stop creating, "The Meeting" is funny, moving, and everything theatre can and should be.

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  • Dave Osmundsen: You Are Cordially Invited to the End of the World! by Keiko Green
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    A play that begins in intimacy that gradually expands beyond the stage, beyond the audience, and beyond the planet we’re reading (or seeing) this play on. Keiko Green manages to strike an impossibly sharp and self-aware comic tone early in the play, then breaks your heart over and over again throughout. What buoys the near-farcical dramaturgy is the empathy the characters command—these are messy humans in a messy world. Just like the rest of us. Wonderful work!

    A play that begins in intimacy that gradually expands beyond the stage, beyond the audience, and beyond the planet we’re reading (or seeing) this play on. Keiko Green manages to strike an impossibly sharp and self-aware comic tone early in the play, then breaks your heart over and over again throughout. What buoys the near-farcical dramaturgy is the empathy the characters command—these are messy humans in a messy world. Just like the rest of us. Wonderful work!

    ”