Recommended by Francisco Mendoza

This play made me feel all kinds of feelings as it explored the concept of “elite capture” exemplified in a group of Asian American friends who fight AAPI hate by… gentrifying a neighborhood. Jae Hoon's script challenges the "when one of us rises, we all rise" mentality by asking tough questions - and making you laugh a LOT along the way. "Siri, play my sick jams!"

This reinterpretation of the biblical story of Samson and Delilah is a stunning playwriting debut! In a recent talkback for a presentation of the play at Bard At The Gate, Massoud talked about how, as an actress, she has internalized language in her body, which informs the way she writes—and you can definitely sense that in CUT, which lives up to its title in visceral scenes that will turn you on, terrify you, and leave a knot in your throat all at once.

You'd think a play based on the Book of Job would be quite bleak - and while, yes, there is an undercurrent of sadness and hopelessness to HEAP, the play had me laughing out loud in almost every scene. Vivan engages the subject of endurance with clear eyes but a light hand, creating charming (and very funny) characters out of stock figures that populate the play's suburban community, marrying the sassiness (and cruelty) of "Desperate Housewives" with the absurdism of modern works like Noah Diaz's "You Will Get Sick" or Sarah Einspanier's "Lunch Bunch."

I read The (Other) as part of an open submission process and it has stayed with me since. Alexander portrays emotional baggage in a theatrical way that manages to be quite scary and upsetting, yet somehow makes room for a love story that I (notably a love skeptic) still fell for. I'd love to see this on its feet to see the horror and magic of the play come to life!

I read Ashley's play as part of an open submission process and it was a breath of fresh air: a Subject Play that didn't feel like a TED Talk and was instead grounded in character dynamics. I thought the way Ashley portrays the awkwardness of a Tinder date was pitch-perfect, and the often unspoken insecurities that stem from dating post-MeToo were played out in very theatrical (and amusing) ways. Plus it's very funny! A joke about a Nostrand Negroni had me laughing out loud at my desk.

This play belongs to one of my favorite genres: the uncanny. Every time you start getting involved in Erica and Malik's relationship and dreams, Ferron-Smith reminds you that what we're seeing on stage cannot be trusted, that something evil is afoot, and that we, as audience members gawking at the residents of this neighborhood, might be to blame. I'm really excited to see what an ambitious design team could do with this script!

I heard someone describe it as "the first Title IX play" at its reading in New York and it certainly fits the bill: ALL EIGHT is a nuanced, equal parts horrific and funny exploration of the experiences of young women in collegiate sports. While it tackles the Big Subject of sexual harrasment, it keeps the focus squarely on the women (we never see the coach or other men), and it never lets us off the hook: heroes can be selfish, victims can be complicit, and winning the race always comes at a price.

This is a savagely funny, all-too-real play, and the rare one that kept me watching even though I saw it on Zoom! Francisca deftly balances the caricature and human sides of each of her characters, pointing out the ridiculous contradictions between the non-profit sector's lofty aspirations and its depressing realities, at the core of which there's a bunch of people who just really, really need a drink. It contains the line "LaCroix doesn't see color" and I can't think of a higher endorsement than that.

I saw this play staged at Ars Nova's ANTFest in 2019 in a Checkmark production helmed by director Cristina Angeles, and was immediately charmed by its whip-smart blend of a home-makeover reality show and a painful (in some moments, literally) exploration of gentrification. But if at any point I felt I knew where this was going, Eliana kept pulling the rug from under me by refusing to portray any of the characters in simplistic, villains-and-heroes terms. I felt simultaneously seen and called out, and this play still has me thinking about it almost a year later!