Recommended by Eric Pfeffinger

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.

A well-crafted and deftly wrought exploration of cultural identity, divertingly dramatized through characters who speak with erudition about Rousseau and African artifacts even as they don't realize how confined they are within their own silo of cultural experience. A clever and engaging conversation-starter.

Loopy and relentlessly unpredictable -- like an amusement park ride except with occasional heartbreak. Audiences and actors alike will welcome the chance to submerge themselves in the smart, peculiar, distinctive and idiosyncratic world built by this play.

A moving, gripping, and often surprisingly funny play that blends tense stakes, disarming lyricism, and refreshing humor. I came away from the play particularly struck by the characters -- these are five intricately drawn, convincingly flawed, completely recognizable human beings that the audience roots for and that any actor would love to play.

A bracing and unflinching exploration of accountability and forgiveness in a War-on-Terror world. Compellingly flawed characters collide with each other in provocative ways in the big world of this smart play.