Recommended by Jennifer Kokai

  • Powerstories Theatre: All Roads Lead to Ravensbrück by Rebecca Gorman O'Neill
    “

    Powerstories Theatre congratulates Rebecca Gorman O'Neill for being a finalist for the 2026 Voices of Women Festival. One reader noted that the play: "leaves me shaken by how easily cruelty becomes normalized when ordinary people look away. It makes me think about the fragility of freedom, and how memory itself is a weapon against erasure. Most of all, it leaves me feeling that resistance—whether whispered or shouted—is the only antidote to silence."

    Powerstories Theatre congratulates Rebecca Gorman O'Neill for being a finalist for the 2026 Voices of Women Festival. One reader noted that the play: "leaves me shaken by how easily cruelty becomes normalized when ordinary people look away. It makes me think about the fragility of freedom, and how memory itself is a weapon against erasure. Most of all, it leaves me feeling that resistance—whether whispered or shouted—is the only antidote to silence."

    ”
  • Powerstories Theatre: A Story About a Girl by Jacquelyn Reingold
    “

    Powerstories Theatre congratulates Jacquelyn Reingold for being a finalist in the 2026 Voices of Women Festival. One reader noted: "The play leaves you reflecting on the power of connection beyond words. It stirs tenderness for Bethany’s resilience and ache for her isolation, reminding us that imagination and love can create a language where silence is misunderstood."

    Powerstories Theatre congratulates Jacquelyn Reingold for being a finalist in the 2026 Voices of Women Festival. One reader noted: "The play leaves you reflecting on the power of connection beyond words. It stirs tenderness for Bethany’s resilience and ache for her isolation, reminding us that imagination and love can create a language where silence is misunderstood."

    ”
  • Powerstories Theatre: The Pandora Effect by Erin Lekovic
    “

    Powerstories Theatre congratulates Erin Lekovic for being a finalist for the 2026 Voices of Women Festival for The Pandora Effect. The committee enjoyed the unique structure, the witty dialogue, and the thoughtful questions the play raised about who gets to control the writing of history and what ills are worth enduring to gain knowledge and truth. We feel this play is especially suitable for college productions, or other groups looking for a fresh, flexibly cast, interactive piece.

    Powerstories Theatre congratulates Erin Lekovic for being a finalist for the 2026 Voices of Women Festival for The Pandora Effect. The committee enjoyed the unique structure, the witty dialogue, and the thoughtful questions the play raised about who gets to control the writing of history and what ills are worth enduring to gain knowledge and truth. We feel this play is especially suitable for college productions, or other groups looking for a fresh, flexibly cast, interactive piece.

    ”

  • This is a hilarious update of A Midsummer Night's Dream. This absolutely has to be on your radar if you are a high school or university that wants students to encounter an old story in new ways. The casting and staging is so flexible it is perfect. Or if you grew up in the 90s and were a part of the "teen Shakespeare movie" zeitgeist, this will spark nostalgia for when pop culture was using Shakespeare but had actually read the plays (I'm looking at you T.Swift who clearly hasn't actually read Hamlet).

    This is a hilarious update of A Midsummer Night's Dream. This absolutely has to be on your radar if you are a high school or university that wants students to encounter an old story in new ways. The casting and staging is so flexible it is perfect. Or if you grew up in the 90s and were a part of the "teen Shakespeare movie" zeitgeist, this will spark nostalgia for when pop culture was using Shakespeare but had actually read the plays (I'm looking at you T.Swift who clearly hasn't actually read Hamlet).

  •

    An innovative and highly incisive look at our culture's obsession with technological innovation and the costs we incur-- human and non-human alike-- in our relentless pursuit of commodification. Highly recommend.

    An innovative and highly incisive look at our culture's obsession with technological innovation and the costs we incur-- human and non-human alike-- in our relentless pursuit of commodification. Highly recommend.

  •

    I found this play a remarkably lovely and sad meditation on connection, change, and loss. The characters are well developed and interesting, and the play gestures towards non-human characters as well in a way that is not cloying but asks us to better think of ourselves as humans in conversation with the rest of the natural world. The production leaves scope for a great deal of imagination while offering ways to achieve it that are complicated or simple making it very producible.

    I found this play a remarkably lovely and sad meditation on connection, change, and loss. The characters are well developed and interesting, and the play gestures towards non-human characters as well in a way that is not cloying but asks us to better think of ourselves as humans in conversation with the rest of the natural world. The production leaves scope for a great deal of imagination while offering ways to achieve it that are complicated or simple making it very producible.

  •

    I got to see a reading of this at the recent Hippodrome Theatre New Works Festival. The play presents a complicated and nuanced take on young adult relationships and abuse, on a micro and macro scale. It has great roles for early 20 something performers and universities and young theatre companies should consider it for production.

    I got to see a reading of this at the recent Hippodrome Theatre New Works Festival. The play presents a complicated and nuanced take on young adult relationships and abuse, on a micro and macro scale. It has great roles for early 20 something performers and universities and young theatre companies should consider it for production.

  •

    The Dramaturgy class at Weber State assisted in the development of this piece and did a reading. We found the characters really compelling and the language evocative. There are many excellent design opportunities here in all aspects. Highly recommend universities keep this on their radar as it develops.

    The Dramaturgy class at Weber State assisted in the development of this piece and did a reading. We found the characters really compelling and the language evocative. There are many excellent design opportunities here in all aspects. Highly recommend universities keep this on their radar as it develops.

  • Jennifer Kokai: MY PRONOUNS by Emma Goldman-Sherman
    “

    This is a devastatingly honest piece with beautifully written lines about the enormous difficulty of identity and history. A brave, lovely piece.

    This is a devastatingly honest piece with beautifully written lines about the enormous difficulty of identity and history. A brave, lovely piece.

    ”
  • Jennifer Kokai: Gin Mummy by Melissa Leilani Larson
    “

    All the wit of Oscar Wilde, but with the openly gay characters he wished he could have written. Absolutely hilarious.

    All the wit of Oscar Wilde, but with the openly gay characters he wished he could have written. Absolutely hilarious.

    ”