Recommended by Alexander Perez

Smith's knack for silly humor imbued with serious implication is in full display here. Not only does this spectacularly theatrical adaptation of the Miller classic revels in the absurdity of our beloved art form, ever pushing the boundaries of the weight our disbelief can suspend to new heights. As a contemporary parable, The Correctable fires a silver bullet through the heart of willful ignorance, gender dynamics, and the human tendency to shrink in the face of shame instead of embracing the difficult growth it promises. No one is safe from mass hysteria, not even poor innocent YouTube.

Lanao takes on the Herculean task of adapting Beckett not only for a modern audience but for a distinctly non-European audience as well!

Waiting for Gato masterfully infuses the play, prose, and profundity the classic is known for with cutting interrogations of ethnicity, colorism, privilege, masculinity, and heaps more as our reluctant heroes wait for the eponymous Gato to appear.

Faithful and relevant adaptation aside, this piece has the potential to inspire a wider theatrical audience than Beckett’s often impenetrable musings ever could.

An achievement on a variety of levels.

A racially charged faux pas leads to an unexpected friendship which leads to unprecedented, if messy, personal growth and discovery.

Locked between the social conventions of civility, race, politeness, greed, love, and loneliness, Lanao’s characters spend less time justifying their actions and more existing as flawed yet well meaning individuals who are least better people than the people they work for: whatever that’s worth.

Not only is “One of Those Weird Days” a stellar opportunity for cross-cultural casting and storytelling, it represents the potential of what this medium can achieve when everyone is invited to the table.

Lanao’s “COVID play” nimbly avoids the trappings most pieces that tackle current events face. The circumstances are merely a backdrop to the human drama unfolding as these three interconnected but distinct couplings navigate the present and reconcile their pasts despite looking down the barrel of the most uncertain future humanity has ever faced.

A kinetic, tender, and engaging one-person show that juggles an impressive implied ensemble with it's "coming- of-age-before-you-grow-up" story which paints an all too real portrait of autistic youth on the verge of adulthood. Whatever your passion, be it theater, music, finance; we've all been "Bob", we all know an "Alex".

Osmundsen deftly navigates the fine line between cautionary tale and morality play. Hard lessons are learned, growth is achieved, but harm is done.

To that end, how many of us never would have learned to swim were if not for the threat of drowning?

A deeply resonant, thrilling, and hysterical train ride through both America's heartland and the annals of it's absurd history. Our would-be heroes confront not only the solemn task before them but also the relative lack of impact it would come to have on their cause. Through wit, courage, and a sage level of restraint, "the beautiful land i seek..." further excavates our existence's most pressing questions;

Is the act of martyrdom an exercise in futility?

What value does present sacrifice offer future generations if they never know you exist?

Were they just speaking Spanish?

The Manhood Games is a madcap cavalcade that takes toxic masculinity to task over the course of it's brief but jam packed run time. Clever directors and fearless actors have a spectacular opportunity to give audiences plenty to laugh about but even more to chew on after the curtain falls.

This delightfully dystopian docu-comedy details a world humans are torn from our lifeblood, our engine; our coffee. In 10 meticulously crafted pages Fleischer builds a fully realize apocalypse by way of clever flashbacks, ensemble shenanigans, and constant laughs.

A guaranteed home run for large groups in need of a winning comedy.

Herrera's unflinching breakdown of the pernicious cycle of self-image and eating disorders as run through the infinite negative feedback loop of family gatherings, societal pressures, and flirtations with the abyss. Personal, wry, and intimately harrowing narrative aside, what I love most about this particular piece is it's exploration of what food seeks fill and it's abject failure in that mission.

This goes beyond self-control, it's a battle for your mortal soul.

Slash stuffs it's brief runtime to capacity with moments of romance, joy, terror, and hilarity. Throughout it's almost "Cabin in the Woods"-esque deconstruction of this classic slasher set up, de Forest dexterously finds genuine tenderness and discovery between its leads; Even as the distant screaming creeps ever closer.

A creative, economic, and hilarious short!