Recommended by Doug DeVita

Imaginative, theatrical, and disturbingly prescient, Max Gill gives us a cautionary tale cloaked in thought provoking magical realism that warns but doesn’t preach. Wonderfully entertaining, at times heartbreakingly so, and oh, so smart.

It’s a cool morning here in New York, and yet after reading this play I feel the need to blast every air conditioner in the place. Jonte’s astonishing mix of elegantly sensual and rough, feral language creates and sustains a mood of lust and longing one is powerless to resist; the effect is both disturbing and irresistible. I shall now take a cold shower. And then, most likely, read this again.

Julie D’Aubigny’s story is fascinating, a natural for stage and film; her 17th century exploits as a cross-dressing swords(wo)man lend themselves to epic, swashbuckling, and romantic storytelling. Monica Cross, like D'Aubigny, has a wonderfully individual style, and her ability to bring a sense of magical wonder to D’Aubigny’s already highly theatrical tale gives her work here an edge over most other iterations of this story. It’s long, yes, but endlessly fascinating, and moves so rapidly it makes for a most exciting read, and I imagine will be equally as exciting to see performed.

Cinematic in structure, Alice Josephs’ COMMERCIAL ROW plays out with the glee of an all-star caper film. Josephs carefully layers her diverse characters and dovetails them into an ever-tangling web of financial wheeling and dealing in early 21st century London. With its wonderfully wry British flavor, COMMERCIAL ROW reminds one of Lucy Prebble’s ENRON, or Caryl Churchill’s SERIOUS MONEY, yet it stands firmly on its own as a farcical, dark satire of a specific time and place.

With wild theatricality and potently thoughtful provocation, Emma Goldman-Sherman delves into the personal pain of being a woman in a “man’s” world and creates another stunning, angry – and necessary – work of art.

A young woman selling flowers on a street corner? Named Eliza? Sound familiar? Unlike George Bernard Shaw’s heroine, this Eliza (or Elisa… She’s Eliza in the synopsis, but Elisa in the script) is well spoken but has no apparent thirst for an education with which to expand her mind or better herself. In an exquisitely crafted near-monologue, Cooperman deftly exposes the lack of critical thinking skills and intellectual curiosity, as well as the willfully arrogant stupidity of the self-satisfied, plaguing contemporary society. It’s an extraordinary tour de force for an actress, and an education in itself.

Oh this is so much silly fun! A delightfully tongue-in-cheek spoof of a bumbling late 19th century detective who is not quite as sharp as his more famous rival, the jokes pile up fast and furious, and the double twist at the end – while not quite killer – is hilariously satisfying nonetheless. A treat for the performers and their audiences, this would also make a great audio play.

These seven short plays, wrenched from the fearlessly twisted mind of Scott Sickles, are riveting and deeply disturbing when read singly as stand-alone pieces; as a complete work they are a dark, piercing, unforgiving, horrifying probe into the mind of a true sociopath. Reading them is like being at the scene of a train wreck: we don’t want to see but we can’t look away, and once seen (or read), the horror permeates like a nightmare that lingers from years ago. Rhoda Penmark has a kindred soul, and his name is Luke.

With its expertly calibrated rising line of tension, this play had my heart racing from its opening lines and gasping for breath at its conclusion. Kendall writes with a deliciously dark and twisted sense of humor, which heightens the disquieting effect of the piece; his characters play their game of cat and mouse with crackerjack authority – I imagine it would be as much fun to play these parts as it would be to watch them being performed, biting my nails the entire time. Brutally good fun!

In OFF THE PALISADES PARKWAY, Nick Malakhow perfectly captures the clashing, crashing worlds of teenagers from neighboring towns but different social and economic strata. Set in a particular time (1999) and place (Northern New Jersey), Malakhow’s script is nonetheless universal, specific to its time yet up-to-the-minute in its vitality; I particularly loved the specific and distinct language he has given his characters, so right for who they are, the era in which they’re living, and the problems they are facing. An exceptional work from an exceptional playwright.