Recommended by Eric Pfeffinger

There are few things as satisfying in a straight-up comedy as when lies and misunderstandings careen into a pile-up of hilarious proportions, and that's what happens in Washer/Dryer -- a knowing comedy with high stakes (real estate! laundry!) and a cast that looks like people you know in the world, not just people you see in the theater.

This play does, so well, so much of what drama's supposed to do: it creates, with visceral immediacy, completely unimpeded vicarious identification with people from different circumstances in an entirely separate part of the world. A thoroughly uncompromising vision of what war does to people, but the experience of it is never needlessly punishing. A remarkable achievement that demands to be staged.

A culture-clash drama of good intentions gone awry and second chances derailed -- sensitive and surehanded and wise.

Audacious and unruly in all the best possible ways: an exuberant play that both flaunts and mocks its own erudition.

Grim and lyrical, this is a play with a conscience and with a grasp of the theatrically magical. It has one foot in the hyperreal and one in the supernatural, but its dramatization of human connections, and the depths of human feeling, is transcendent.

This cunning and surprising play uses the troubling spectre of police brutality as a jumping-off point to launch an uncompromising exploration of the stubborn complexity of accountability, moral identity, and human relationships. You find yourself still talking about its implications days after you leave the theater.

A culture-clashing intersection of sports and politics, dramatized with heart and humanity and humor. These characters stick with you long after you leave the theater.

Professional wrestling and pest control figure prominently in this hard-bitten, sun-bleached coming-of-age tale which is inflected by more than a touch of dark absurdity. Opportunities for raucous physicality are juxtaposed here with great, chewy dialogue.

A literate, lyrical, and troubling exploration of the gendered effects of objectification: smart and moving and multidimensional.

Cunningly and painlessly integrates hard-core science into a very human, very dramatic story of relationships with real and immediate stakes. An ingeniously accessible way to spur conversations about climate change within audiences with diverse political outlooks.