Recommended by Scott Sickles

The choice to tell the tale of Nelly Bly's stay in an Blackwell's from the point of view of another patient somehow gives the story even more power. Anne Neville is not a well woman: fragile, possibly delusional, trapped, and enraged, we truly get the sense of the hell the mentally ill endure from both their afflictions and their so called treatment. It's a tour de force role in a striking and daringly imaginative play.

A play that's as delightful a confection as its title! If you need a light, fun and funny, expressionistic piece exploring the Sisyphean struggle for human connection in the face of loneliness and solitude that, despite its heavy themes, is a fast-paced joy to read/see... THIS IS IT!!! TREAT YO SELF!

A beautiful, powerful tale of fathers, sons, and their expectations of each other and the world. The imagery is so simple and clear, one can't help being in the woods with these characters, even when the narrator is relaying his memories of the trip. The piece so accurately captures the surgically sharp and profound disappointment parents have for their children, a disappointment that the children inherit. The ending hit me where I live.

Equal parts grounded and surreal, naturalistic and heightened, brutally honest yet immersed in creating a fantasy. I recommend reading it at least twice: the first time to be surprised, and the second time to know what how to interpret those surprises, to let them impact you. There's a cleverness to the writing, a deftness that is immediately impressive *as writing* that eventually gives way to the emotions of the story and the profound needs of the characters. Truly remarkable.

Sharp, smart, and powerful! The piece and its protagonist! A concise yet thorough examination of the double-standard between boys’ and girls’ attire in school and how that hypocrisy pervades the world at large by way of a power structure that celebrates men while subjugating women... especially smart, confident women. If Daria Morgendorffer and Jane Lane had a love child, she would be Zoey!

Utter perfection and absolutely delightful! As someone who had theatrical pretentions as a child, this is a nostalgia overload! The children's interpretation of what theater is and who in theatre does what and plays whom is brilliantly spot-on! This play is gorgeously observed and laugh out loud hilarious!

Compelling and disturbing, POPSICLE KISSES elegantly combines words and movement to a complex tale of abuse – physical, emotional, sexual – never flinching from the love and desire that can exist in horrific circumstances. A profound, daring and indelible short piece.

If you like Neil LaBute, you should like this play and if you don’t, then you’re bound to LOVE IT! While every character REPRESENTS A POINT OF VIEW as they do in LaBute’s work, these characters are first and foremost PEOPLE. They have dimension and desires. They’re conflicted about what they’re supposed to stand for and the way the world actually is, and their own expectations of each other. While DOUCHEGIRL is certainly a take on other writers, it is unfailingly its own complicated story of friendship, love and the bloody gray area in between.

I saw this Off-Broadway. Elegant and powerful, it beautifully captures a time in our history that older people should never forget and younger people, especially LGBTQ folks under 40 need to learn about.

You know when you think you and That Other Person can handle Things and be Perfectly Rational Adults and then you find out “NOPE! NOT HAPPENING!”? That’s this play. And this play is pitch perfect. What’s great is that despite being at odds, neither one of the characters seems wrong. Everyone is mad yet no one is the bad guy. We’ve all been the emotional one or the rational one and sometimes we’ve taken turns. This captures a glimpse into a relationship that’s reached critical mass and could go either way. A terrific piece!