Recommended by Doug DeVita

We all wonder what the afterlife will hold for us, just as we wish for those who've gone before us to "rest in peace." PMiddletonW tackles these thoughts with his usual aplomb, both begging and answering the question as to what it means to "rest in peace." Who hasn't felt some of our loved ones are not yet resting peacefully? In this poignant two-hander, Sam has found his peace, while Doug has not. A touching work that gives as plausible an answer to one of life's eternal questions as any.

A beautiful play about an enduring friendship. The conversational dialogue flows smoothly, delineating the two main characters and their relationship, and builds naturally to a visceral gut punch at the end. A lovely, touching work, with two meaty roles for late middle-aged actors.

In the two + years since meeting Nimisha at the Kennedy Center Playwrights Intensive, I've been watching her grow and find her voice as a playwright. And she has a wonderful voice, in its specificity and universality, in its musicality, and in its deeply felt layers of emotion. All of these are working full tilt in this beautiful short play, a gift for two actresses and the audiences who will, no doubt, be attending performances. A lovely, heartfelt, and smart work.

This gorgeous ten minute play packs the same power and punch as a full-length; information is parsed out with elegant, read-between-the-lines depth, and the two characters are drawn with broad strokes yet beautifully filled in. An absolute charmer, St. Croix aims for the heart and delivers an emotionally fulfilling bullseye.

This is a stunning companion piece to Williams’ A TREE GROWS IN LONGMONT, in which he shines an incisive light on the idiocy and thinly veiled hatred we still need to combat. Sharp, uncompromising, intelligent, and devastating. Bravo, Philip. Bravo.

“Oh, sweetheart. We wouldn’t even need prayer if it wasn’t for anger.”

In a play filled with beautifully written aphorisms, the above line stands out from the others because it is not only a perfect statement of the play’s theme, but also a shockingly truthful truth. That it comes from the mouth of a Chaplain, no less, is a testament to Adams' audaciously gorgeous writing. This short play packs quite a punch in its brief ten-minutes. Highly recommended.

I’m late to the party reading this, but Oh. My. God: Better late than never. McBurnette-Andronicos grabs you from the opening monologue, and you willingly let her take you wherever she wants you to go; from high comedy to dark despair and all points in between, her script is a masterclass in story, structure, and characterization, and is whopping good fun to boot. A funny play about death? Absolutely. And oh, how I want to see it staged. So many wonderfully theatrical possibilities.

In this powerful piece, Lionelle Hamanaka tears into the cost of war and its aftermath with a ferocious energy that is enraging and thought-provoking. Expertly ratcheting up the tension throughout, she provides an excellent opportunity for skilled performers to bring the family at the core of the play to multi-dimensional life, as well as an expertly crafted story that breaks the heart.

Rachel Feeny-Williams has expanded her fascinating deep dive into anamnesis and crime scene investigation into a fuller, more detailed one act play, adding some heartbreaking background details as well as a few key characters, and it is just as exciting and provocative as her earlier 10-minute, leaving the reader (and/or audience member) sated – which is pretty much what a good police procedural should do. Good show!

Acceptance, and the redemptive powers that come with it, are at the core of Lucy Wang’s moving family drama. Wang’s characters are all complex, beautifully detailed human beings who give a universality to her story, in turn making it the kind of play that hits a nerve for anyone and everyone who reads, or better yet, sees the work; they’ll recognize themselves in this family regardless of their own personal circumstances. Touching, deeply felt, and very moving, I’d love to see this staged.