Recommended by Joshua Fardon

The Passing manages to be disturbing and emotionally evocative while avoiding sensationalism or sentimentality. Its horror is rooted in Ave and Lorca’s past, their sense of loss and their unanswered questions. There are some genuinely chilling moments. An intelligent one-act which will leave its audience scared, moved and intrigued.

The characters in this richly disturbing and inventive one-act are forced to do terrible things in order to prove their loyalty to the people they love. The play presents a rite of passage in a dystopian society which prioritizes the willingness to set aside scruples and take action over ethics or compassion. It's all done for the "right" reasons, but the price/stakes are so high, a character even tries to breaks to fourth wall to avoid compliance. This would be a great fit for a political theatre one-act anthology and/or evening - if you're planning one, read it.

Deftly examines the way one event - the posting of a sexist message on a billboard - affects an entire community, examining not only its aftermath but its origins. It does this in a hybrid-stylized monologue/dialogue format which suits the play perfectly - a collective feeling is more than people talking to each other, and personal pain is best expressed in dialogue. While being an important play about how and why our society is shaped by and permeated by sexism, it avoids judgment and easy explanations. As one character says, “Life is an assault on my body image.”

A fascinating study of American gullibility and extremism. On one side stands Brinkley, a charlatan whose crazy cures for impotence and other maladies both endanger and psychosomatically help thousands. On the other side stands Fishbein whose vendetta is personal and whose drive to extinguish Brinkely’s successes drives him into misanthropy. The conflict between the two takes place almost a hundred years ago but couldn’t be more relevant today; we are as susceptible to charlatanism as ever, in ways that will likely stagger the belief of future generations. Meticulously constructed and beautifully written.

This play presents a real-life hypothetical solution to the apocalyptic cloud of impulsiveness which all of us live under today. Though The Volunteer is about the potentiality and inhumanity of nuclear war, it also manages to be funny, moving and theatrical while avoiding being cumbersome or necessarily costly, making it ideal for smaller venues who want to do new, innovative work. Propelling the surprising (and even sometimes gruesome) plot twists, choice roles for actors and clean, often funny dialogue is a guiding urgency which the audience will take home. It's important. Don't just read it. Produce it.