Recommended by Ally Varitek

This play proves that sometimes the classics can be made even tastier with some contemporary sprinkles! This play was lively, its wit both sharp and fresh and on occasion the right dose of silly, and its characters a wonderful tapestry of all kinds of comedy. THIS is a play we need produced right now! Less misogyny, more pants and delightful anachronisms. Theatres, program this new comedy if you want to engage your audiences and keep them laughing while supporting diverse artists!

A thoughtful exploration of incarceration through cyclical structure, parallels to Dante’s Inferno, & the walls that trap people in different circles. The characters are well rounded, & I’m especially fascinated by the Narrator and how strong that character is thematically, as it indicates systems of oppression that want to resolve themselves of individual blame. I got to witness this play through the Digital Development Project’s Digital Play Lab and would love to see more. #PlayshareEvolution

As someone who finds herself unable to look at life without both melancholy and joy, this play feels rooted in something familiar yet not often given the space onstage. This is a bittersweet meditation on loss, from the seemingly small loss as distance grows in childhood friendships to true tragedy that you often don’t have words for until years later. I’m left in a contemplative space after reading this piece and would love to experience it together with an audience.

I love that this play acknowledges both the healing power of getting in tune with your body after trauma AND the darkness that can come from the intersection of toxic femininity and wellness culture in the aftermath. This play is a wrestling match and a dream of a two-hander for female actor-athletes. I can see this being great material for stage combat scene work as well as a full performance in a traditional space OR on location. Can someone program this now so I can come??

THIS is the history play I want to see! This play explores the nature of changing technologies, the origins of writing, gender, state power, resistance to it, handlessness, disability, and the invention of poetry. We go back in time to contemplate identity, expression, and language as the Assyrian empire shifts from cuneiform to Aramaic. It begs the question of art & technology in a manner that feels timely with questions about A.I. and delivered with some much-needed laughter. #SparkFest23

The nontraditional, atemporal structure utilizing an adobo recipe as a framing device was deliciously innovative. I felt like I was in a decolonizing version of Cooking Mama! The playwright knits each ingredient to both tone and contents of the following scenes in a way that made talking about big ideas like colonization and miscegenation carry this wry, sardonic wit with dollops of energy. This will be a delightful chance for designers and puppetry to add their own zest alongside performance.

A dramatic comedy with a good serving of comedy that meets the darkness of climate grief and connotations of death. "The world is too big to not be kind of magical" says one of the characters. The magical realism here (there's a support group for extinct animals), is poignant and theatrical. I found myself impressed by how well the magical moments were knit into the fabric of this play and its use matched the connotations around both end-of-life and end-of-the-world anxieties. #SparkFest24

This play is electric. It’s for women’s sports fans, for wrestling fans, AND for any artist. The layers of wrestling and theatre are palpable and invite immense collaboration. The physicality and theatrical possibilities of wrestling and deathmatch are vivid and a dream play for both designers and movement-loving creatives. This is a dream for any movement theatre company.

As someone who grew up in Georgia, I adore Kira Rockwell's plays more and more with each one I read. In Holy Chicken Sandwich, Rockwell does an excellent job of making both the cognitive dissonance and nostalgia of the southern U.S. meaty (literally and figuratively). I appreciate how this play both relates to and calls out a certain fast food culture through the experience of a character you truly root for and the absurd fun of its ensemble, both the human one and the chicken one. It's my pleasure to read this play!

This one is especially my jam in terms of theme, so perhaps a bit biased, but... Well-rounded scientist women characters? An entomologist who gets metaphysical when she sleeps? A fight sequence between insects? It's buzz-tacular! Its magical realism is cleverly and creatively crafted. This play is such an effective vehicle for varying personalities and different generations trying to find a way to communicate with each other, survive, and fight against patriarchy. I especially admire the ways in which its fully formed characters challenge and rewrite stereotypes about women in science. I want to see this produced! #SparkFest24