Recommended by David Beardsley

What an inventive and funny play! Seven years of bad luck, all in a few minutes, courtesy of the Superstition Compensation Distribution Agency. Definitely not a place you want to have calling you, as charming as their reps may be. Though I can think of a few enemies whom I might wish it on! Preuss has created a deceptively complex plot, full of intricate little details that pile up to one hilarious moment of (short-lived) resolution. His protagonist’s relentless cheeriness in the face of disaster adds to this play’s humor. This play should be produced again and again.

Chore Monkeys is an insightful, moving, and funny comedy about racism, especially the micro-aggressions and insidious biases that often fuel it. Peter’s betrayal of Dante, his friend and gig-economy partner, gives this play surprising power without ever causing it to lose it’s comedic way. The ending is subtle, complex, and real. There are laughs but no easy resolutions in this terrific play.

A deeply moving, subtle exploration of gender dysphoria and the conflict and confusion it creates--both for those who experience it, and for the people who care for them. Moon understands that there are no easy answers, and they don't fall into the trap of looking for them. That's why this is such a powerful play. We feel how deeply Corey needs self-understanding. We see how that lack of understanding affects both Corey and Nadia. And we watch as Nadia does not pull away; she leans in, expressing love and support instead of frustration or disappointment. All in ten minutes! Bravo!

I saw the KC Rep stream of Legacy Land (Logan Vaughn, dir.). It's remarkable, powerful, haunting, funny, unflinching, courageous. It's hard to watch, but so beautifully crafted I didn't want it to end. The dreamscapes and memory moments are strange and compelling, bringing the most painful elements of this play front and center--live theatre at its most visceral best. The characters are flawed and damaged and strong. Barbara is a role for the ages. This play deserves to have a very long life on the stage and should earn the highest accolades available to truly great drama, because it's great.

I will add my two cents to the avalanche of well-deserved praise for this play. I watched Know Theater's online performance of Alabaster, about two women damaged and isolated by loss and grief but beginning to heal each other with the help of goats. Goats! How awesome. It's a beautiful play, with complex and powerful characters, but the goats help it land with such force. They highlight the devastating effects of isolation (you know you're in trouble when you talk to goats and they talk back), and they allow the unspeakable to be spoken, which is how healing begins.

This is a terrific philosophical satire that comments on humanity's tendency to think of itself as somehow existing outside and above nature. Three lady bugs debate the existence of a higher power and species more important than them, as unseen humans argue about the importance of respecting nature and not killing lady bugs. I saw it as part of the Boston Theatre Marathon's 2020 online readings (moved online during the coronavirus outbreak) and it worked so well in that medium. The atheist lady bug got my favorite line, something like: "Yes, there are other species, but they're aphids." Satirical gold.

The Message of Pain is a haunting piece of science fiction that skillfully depicts the fragility of human life and the emptiness that's results from isolation and a life devoid of the simple pleasures of human connection. It's a bleak play, but one that also leaves us feeling thankful for the time and relationships we have.

I just saw this at Steppenwolf's First Floor Theater and loved it. It's creepy. It's funny. It's weird. It bends time, or maybe it just ignores it. But does it matter if you can escape the laws of physics, when you can't escape your own demons? I don't know. I'll figure it out later. It's later. I still don't know. But I loved it.

This is such a well-crafted, touching real, and funny play! The characters are beautifully drawn and their dilemma is so poignant. It deals with aging in an unflinching but respectfully comic manner This play should have a long life at festivals.

I thoroughly enjoyed hearing this play at the 2020 Mid-America Theatre Conference. It is a powerful and moving examination of a closely held secret in playwright Arthur Miller’s life: his rejection of a son born with Down Syndrome.