Recommended by Kevin Sparrow

I was drawn into this play and its themes of isolation, particularly in how it uses a boarding school as a way to highlight inequalities based on intersections of gender, ethnicity, race, and sexual orientation, but always feeling like a lived experience. We get to be very close to Raymond's and Sasha's lives, seeing them hear or respond to other people without showing those others on stage. This self-awareness was particularly striking in how it brings an audience very, very close to the characters, offering insight to the major challenges youth faced based on their identities.

I enjoyed how gentle this play was while stilling feeling real; it shows restraint and navigates pushing through some really tough emotions with grace and self-possession, like the main character, Avalon. I very much appreciated seeing a non-binary central character in a story that is about another part of trans and non-binary experiences, a post-coming out. This play deftly examines what we do next with our lives and what legacies do we start to set up so that the people after us have a chance to really get to know and love themselves.

This is a beautiful play full of taut feelings and deep sensuality. I was drawn in by the beautiful language, the complex character dynamics, and the unpacking of the myth of Eurydice and Orpheus (whose story is it really?) through a queer lens. The play also stands out as exemplary in utilizing ASL as a primary language of the script, going beyond an idea of "interpretation" into a deeper interconnectedness that was thrilling to read. I recommend giving it a read and championing it to your local theatre communities.

What a joyful read! I was drawn into the contemporary positioning of the play with accents of elevated language, song, and meta-theatrical moments that tie it back to its Much Ado influence. The farcical qualities here are presented in a way that centers people of diverse gender identities as part of the fun rather than the butt of jokes, and as a whole, it allows space for a range of casting possibilities and interpretations from actors. I loved reading it, and it would be even lovelier to see it in person.

I had the opportunity to see a reading of THE VOLUNTEER at Stage Left Theatre in Chicago, and I was captivated by the dual sides of this story: the brain and the heart. What starts off as a thought experiment becomes a very emotional and humbling experience for everyone involved. This is an incredible play with certainty and a purpose of vision by the playwright that I would love to see in a full production.

As a horror enthusiast, it was fantastic to read a stage play that is able to capture the cinematic language of horror and showcase some of the actual horrors that LGBTQ people face. The meta-commentary on both the horror genre and the gatekeepers for queer representation find an intriguing balance in this script.