Recommended by Darcy Parker Bruce

Wow. Wow. Wow. I love Tira's work, simply for the delicate way she balances light and dark and infuses her stories with a sense of political urgency (without the soapbox). This play is like a breath of fresh frozen air. It gets to your brain and wakes you up. Not only is this a play you want to curl up with and read to the end in one sitting, it is a play for right now, and to me- that's the reason we write. I'm in love with this work, and I cannot wait to see where it goes.

Justine gathers a strong ensemble of voices in this fresh new play about how young women navigate a world that may not always make space for them. In parts hilarious and disturbing, Justine's The Thing That Never Happened is a play that needs to happen, soon!

It was a pleasure to spend time with this play during the 2017 Sewanee Writers' Conference. L's approach to language, and her willingness to push the boundaries of how both language and relationships are performed was not only refreshing but needed. I found myself wound around the characters of this world in a way that made my heart ache. I love how L captured the honesty of how we occupy the world in so many different ways, and Chap and Evan's budding relationship is electric. L as a playwright is gracious, and this play is wonderful. Stage it, please!

BSHMM is one of those plays you can't wait to place in the hands of the next reader. This is a play for right now, and it's a play for future generations, and one of the most magical truths about this play (and there are MANY) is that it is accessible. This is a play that opens its door wide for any audience, which is so important because it doesn't shy away from what needs to be said. A play about trauma and race and love and heartbreak, this play soars.

I absolutely loved this play. From the first page I was hooked and Ginger's natural writing style flows so easily that before I knew it I was halfway done. This is a play that works on so many levels, and it's a sharp and poignant adaptation. A smart critique of the American military, BURNING isn't just a play about what isn't working. It's a play about longing and wanting and being true to yourself, sometimes at the expense of what you really desire. Cy is a wonderful character, and it's great to see butch women onstage. Hope it's staged soon.

Stop my heart but do I love this play. Call me a sucker for gender-bent historical figures placed in a distant future, but this play continued to pull me in even after my initial excitement. Amy has a playful quality in approaching her scripts that resonates in the lines, and which will translate to the actors. This play has so much going on but Amy balances it all with a sure hand. It's also a script about finding your purpose, and about the aching sadness that exists in all of us when we're feeling lost. Definitely read it.

Where do I BEGIN with Catherine's work? I've been loving her plays for almost five years now and NAKED is no different. Her style is FRESH and HIP and HONEST. Catherine writes comedy, of course, and her plays will easily leave you crying and out of breath with glee, but she's no stranger to dealing with heartbreak. Her characters speak to one another with an enviable frankness, in NAKED take scene 9, once Jackie and Alaska have slept together, Catherine captures so well the feeling of loneliness that can happen right next to someone you care for. I love it.

This is a perfect play. Nathan's use of lyrical language coupled with a desire to push the limits of theatricality make this play a contemporary classic. This is script that should be required reading for all theater students, regardless of their focus. These are characters that resonate, and themes that are so visceral and urgent it's as if this play was destined to be written. I have no doubt that Dontrell will find life onstage for a long time to come.

I'm in awe of Rachel's ability to test the limits of what can be brought to life onstage. This play is so much like Cirque du Soleil in its call for staging the fantastic, but at its core it is every bit the beating heart of contemporary American Theater. Funny and heartfelt, this is a play that should find its way to a stage more often. I enjoyed it so much, and I keep coming back to it. Rachel is a playwright to watch.

I love this play! It's so endearing. I have a weakness for bats and while I was reading this play I was imagining all the ways the actor playing Carl/Jubilee could create Carl onstage. Very cute and full of laughs.