Recommended by Scott Sickles

In my parents’ wedding photo, my father looks like he hit the jackpot and my mother… does not.

This is not so different.

Eppich-Harris’s opening scene from a marriage is swift, sharp, potent and powerful. The disparity of affection could not be clearer… unless you’re the groom. The reasons for this union are likewise vivid and a full, rich history is economically and effectively established. The characters extremely playable. One can’t help but worry and hope for these two fictional representations of real-life parents.

a haunting piece. Because the Hermit’s faculties clearly aren’t what they used to be, and might not have been great to begin with, we are bequeathed questions about the mystery laid before us. He’s young, 20s-30s, yet it seems as though he entered this environment as a child… and stayed there.

Regardless, we are face to face with a missing person. One who is simultaneously exactly where he wants to be and hopeless trapped.

A fascinating character study. The exploration of the character during rehearsal would be as labyrinthine as his city’s abandoned underbelly.

Adolesence is hell and when you’re gay (at least gay and over 40) you go through it at least twice. The first time, your body changes and you learn what you’re expected to do with it… eventually. The second time, you finally learn you can do the things you wanted to do the first time… but (if you’re a certain age, or if you live in certain places) you can’t tell anybody.

Baker gives us mulitple adolesences collding with each other. Nothing happens at the right time and the repercussions are tragic. This one’s a heartbreaker.

Eat first. Just something to tide you over until after. If you don’t, you’re gonna be HUNGRY!

Racism collides with racial misconceptions when long-time rural married encounter a young mixed-race couple. Suddenly, prejudices are overturned by people, but everyone is still beautifully complicated and flawed - the characters are sadly more willing to learn than actual humans.

Ruyle effortlessly creates an atmosphere simultaneously cozy and menacing. The tension simmers with the bbq sauce and the ensuing narrative feast is more than satisfying.

Damn. The pain of rejection (not necessarily a spoiler because if Billy got five acceptances there would be no drama) is palpable and that the speaker is making these discoveries in a livestream makes it sting all the more. One maintains hope through every stage of grief, right down to the opening of the final envelope.

Dzubak gives Billy a great deal of dimension and personality in a short time. We ride the ups and down with them and care about their future and, especially, their present. By the time it’s over, we’ve made a friend.

From the opening stage directions, you know it’s gonna be sexy. Not conventional, boring, sexy-sexy. I mean clip-on bow tie/muffin pan sexy.

NERD SEXY!

Deliciously ridiculous flirtation and sublime physical comedy left me gasping with laughter. A poetic sense of longing and love navigates this flying saucer through unexpected unexpected turns, landing in the perfect cornfield of courtship!

A fabulous vehicle for a modern day Nichols and May, and the type of play that will only be funnier with a limited costume budget.

Effervescent and otherworldly in its delights!
Hubba hubba, indeed!...

This monolgue addresses two great mysteries and even provides an answer to one of them: 1) what do they actually send you when you mail in the coupon to get your free powerful muscles fast AND 2) if there’s nothing too heavy for Superman to lift, how did his muscles get that big without sufficient resistance!!! THANK YOU, PHILIP!!!

More importantly, the monologue is a reckoning of memory and misconception disguised as nostalgia. It’s a powerful recollection of not-so-bygone masculine indoctrination (and flimflam) and a celebration of strength, however we may find it.

I thought I wrote a rec for this months ago. It's fascinating to revisit after seeing it performed at Gi60US and re-reading it now... less than a week after a boy was orphaned in a mass shooting on the 4th of July. Childhood trauma is top of mind.

There's a great deal of loss and compassion in this play, wrapped in equal measures of horror and compassion. It kaleidoscopically creepy, heartfelt, and jarring. I never know how to process it... IN A GREAT WAY.

It's a beautiful intricate piece of dramatic pugilism that slaps, stings, and caresses. Extraordinary.

NERDS!!!

Sometimes, there truly is nothing more beautiful than two non-sociotypical people finding each other, be it platonically, romantically... really AT ALL!

Weaver presents a best-case scenario for such kind-hearted, brain-focused silent yearners... and it's still crazy awkward. Perched in the communal outskirts where people who love to read find solitude and solace, this epic love story begins with a brave approach and the truly revolutionary one-two punch of speaking up... and sitting down.

The rest is chemistry. And literature.

I saw the Gi60US staging and it was a punch in the chest. But I didn't know what "Mandelas" were until just now and it makes that punch a death blow.

Medelas are false memories. We all have them, how can we not? Memories change.

Carbajal shows what happens when people share a mandela (which happens) and it's big. Huge. Size of a skyscraper.

I thought the concept was that something had disappeared; turns out, it may never have been there. Carbajal immerses us in terror, loss... and compassion. An extraordinary, UNFORGETTABLE sixty seconds!