Recommended by Vince Gatton

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    This play is quite a journey -- in one sense literally, since it's the story of a pair of dads and their teenage sons on a hiking trip. But its the emotional, psychological, and theatrical trip Nick Malakhov takes us on that really swept me off my feet: poetic yet grounded, idiosyncratic yet deeply relatable, inventive yet familiar, this play has a driving energy, wit, and empathy that earns its emotional payoffs, right up to its breathtaking last few pages. A directors' and actors' feast.

    This play is quite a journey -- in one sense literally, since it's the story of a pair of dads and their teenage sons on a hiking trip. But its the emotional, psychological, and theatrical trip Nick Malakhov takes us on that really swept me off my feet: poetic yet grounded, idiosyncratic yet deeply relatable, inventive yet familiar, this play has a driving energy, wit, and empathy that earns its emotional payoffs, right up to its breathtaking last few pages. A directors' and actors' feast.

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    Aly Kantor exercises her gift for reinterpreting Classical mythology, combining two perhaps lesser-known tales into a love story that's queer, funny, sad, terrifying, enraging, and heart-swelling. Myths endure across time because humans are who we are, ever and always: straining against societal restrictions, stumbling as we figure ourselves out and learn to get what we want...and finding out the hard way that men, alas, can be toxic and deadly. But resistance and love endure. Magic.

    Aly Kantor exercises her gift for reinterpreting Classical mythology, combining two perhaps lesser-known tales into a love story that's queer, funny, sad, terrifying, enraging, and heart-swelling. Myths endure across time because humans are who we are, ever and always: straining against societal restrictions, stumbling as we figure ourselves out and learn to get what we want...and finding out the hard way that men, alas, can be toxic and deadly. But resistance and love endure. Magic.

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    The metaphor is strong here, covered in Band-Aids. There is no bad guy, just a couple of people trying to do their best while suffering a death by a thousand cuts. A funny, humane snapshot of arriving at a hard decision point, punctuated with a great button.

    The metaphor is strong here, covered in Band-Aids. There is no bad guy, just a couple of people trying to do their best while suffering a death by a thousand cuts. A funny, humane snapshot of arriving at a hard decision point, punctuated with a great button.

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    Aly Kantor gets past my jaded emotional defenses. Here, the awkward comic brightness of this robot interaction rubs satisfyingly against the matter at hand: a bone-deep despair that craves the solace of self-annihilation. There's a running theme in Kantor's work about the salvation to be found in friendships, but I didn't expect to see it so slyly appear in a customer service interaction between machines. Again I find myself at a Kantor "end of play", misty-eyed and smiling. A cathartic winner.

    Aly Kantor gets past my jaded emotional defenses. Here, the awkward comic brightness of this robot interaction rubs satisfyingly against the matter at hand: a bone-deep despair that craves the solace of self-annihilation. There's a running theme in Kantor's work about the salvation to be found in friendships, but I didn't expect to see it so slyly appear in a customer service interaction between machines. Again I find myself at a Kantor "end of play", misty-eyed and smiling. A cathartic winner.

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    Forgive me, I'm still recovering from reading Daniel Prillaman's unhinged, madcap, & utterly destabilizing exercise in sociopathy & gaslighting, THE RESOLUTION. Erin is a compelling nightmare figure, and the reality-distortion field she creates for the people in her orbit makes for thrilling drama - and while this is not a facially political play, its resonances with the last decade of the American experience are there if you care to look. (Extra points here also for frakkin' BSG fans!)

    Forgive me, I'm still recovering from reading Daniel Prillaman's unhinged, madcap, & utterly destabilizing exercise in sociopathy & gaslighting, THE RESOLUTION. Erin is a compelling nightmare figure, and the reality-distortion field she creates for the people in her orbit makes for thrilling drama - and while this is not a facially political play, its resonances with the last decade of the American experience are there if you care to look. (Extra points here also for frakkin' BSG fans!)

  • Vince Gatton: Because We Planted Flowers by Aly Kantor
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    This big-hearted fantasy story captures a painful and tender fork in the road, one that many people in our real world are experiencing at this cultural moment. When the love we have for the stories that shaped us is set in opposition to the love we have for our people, a choice has to be made. Aly Kantor writes with compassion and decency (and welcome humor) about the whole conundrum, and we’re the better for it.

    This big-hearted fantasy story captures a painful and tender fork in the road, one that many people in our real world are experiencing at this cultural moment. When the love we have for the stories that shaped us is set in opposition to the love we have for our people, a choice has to be made. Aly Kantor writes with compassion and decency (and welcome humor) about the whole conundrum, and we’re the better for it.

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  • Vince Gatton: THE KEEPER'S QUARTERS by Craig Houk
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    The Keeper's Quarters has a structure I love: a single setting in two different time periods, with action and intrigue that echoes and overlaps. It's an enticing set-up, and Craig Houk ups that ante by doubling the actors across time, disorienting us (and his protagonist) about what exactly we're seeing, and why. Add in a slew of practical special effects, witty dialogue, and questionable motives, and you've got an irresistible thriller about creativity, money, and storytelling itself. Haunting.

    The Keeper's Quarters has a structure I love: a single setting in two different time periods, with action and intrigue that echoes and overlaps. It's an enticing set-up, and Craig Houk ups that ante by doubling the actors across time, disorienting us (and his protagonist) about what exactly we're seeing, and why. Add in a slew of practical special effects, witty dialogue, and questionable motives, and you've got an irresistible thriller about creativity, money, and storytelling itself. Haunting.

    ”
  • Vince Gatton: A Passage To India by Doug DeVita
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    Doug DeVita boldly brings E. M. Forster’s repressed subtext to the surface, with a fresh, exciting Passage to India that crackles with intrigue, longing, heartbreak, and rage. Thanks to a storytelling narrative device, much of Forster’s gorgeous prose remains, as do the colonial tensions, tender connections, misunderstandings, and outright betrayals that make this story so irresistible — all brought into a sharper focus. Where Forster had to insinuate, DeVita can shout; the result is thrilling.

    Doug DeVita boldly brings E. M. Forster’s repressed subtext to the surface, with a fresh, exciting Passage to India that crackles with intrigue, longing, heartbreak, and rage. Thanks to a storytelling narrative device, much of Forster’s gorgeous prose remains, as do the colonial tensions, tender connections, misunderstandings, and outright betrayals that make this story so irresistible — all brought into a sharper focus. Where Forster had to insinuate, DeVita can shout; the result is thrilling.

    ”
  • Vince Gatton: 37 Origami Bees by Mathew Green
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    A breezy satire that feels like only the tiniest exaggeration of our current bananapants world. Bond-villain bazillionaires, celebrity clout-chasing, and obscenely expensive joyrides for the obscenely wealthy all come in for a skewering, but with wryly lovable characters and a warm tone. Fans of The Good Place will delight in this high-concept-comedy-cum-ethics-class. Everyone else will just enjoy the ride.

    A breezy satire that feels like only the tiniest exaggeration of our current bananapants world. Bond-villain bazillionaires, celebrity clout-chasing, and obscenely expensive joyrides for the obscenely wealthy all come in for a skewering, but with wryly lovable characters and a warm tone. Fans of The Good Place will delight in this high-concept-comedy-cum-ethics-class. Everyone else will just enjoy the ride.

    ”
  • Vince Gatton: PAULINA HARGITAY, PSYCHIATRIC NURSE: A MONOLOGUE by Asher Wyndham
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    Asher Wyndham’s monologues consistently give a strong Who and a What: there are the colorful characters, and there’s the matter at hand. Here Paulina Hargitay is a salty, world-weary, spiky delight, with a syntax and dialect that actresses will relish chewing on; and her unique window into current events is urgent and enraging. Watching her manage, challenge, navigate, and advocate is a powerful lesson in everyday heroism.

    Asher Wyndham’s monologues consistently give a strong Who and a What: there are the colorful characters, and there’s the matter at hand. Here Paulina Hargitay is a salty, world-weary, spiky delight, with a syntax and dialect that actresses will relish chewing on; and her unique window into current events is urgent and enraging. Watching her manage, challenge, navigate, and advocate is a powerful lesson in everyday heroism.

    ”