Recommended by Ally Varitek

This play is funny and sad and horrific and beautiful. I always adore the coming-of-age of the secrets we are too afraid to say out loud. Parker Gray’s deft slaloms between wit, boldness, and vulnerability provide playground for both actors and their audiences in this play. It only helps that he is artistically savvy and lovely to work with. The dialectic and physical landscapes in this play are also rich & a designer's dream. I fell in love with the characters’ quirks, gasped at their mistakes, and cried at their endings. I cannot wait to see this produced!

A delightfully raucous participatory play encounters theatricality and legacy, agency over one’s past and its recollection in the future, and Truth. I’ve seen this play in multiple iterations as its dramaturg and find each time Alexander permeates time, space, and even the stage directions in each to offer a hilariously heartbreaking conversation about identity and how authenticity necessitates vulnerability. Calder is wonderfully thoughtful to work with and intellectually playful, which comes out through the plays' themes in ways you can’t even fathom. You’re in for a sore belly and an aching conscience with this one!

Other recommendations touch on the genius of this playwright's poetry, and so I'd love to uplift the rhythm of the language in this piece. Pacing and poetic verse work together in this play with a deeply empathic slam. The increasing speed and intensity generated by the arc of this narrative offers a feeling both jarring and honest about the realities of mass incarceration for Black youth. I saw this piece multiple times at the OOB Festival as a festival coordinator and can't help but also highlight how heart-forward Darius is as a playwright. A must-read and a need-to-see-again.

Ches' character charms in this poetically crafted exploration of gender fluidity through childhood nostalgia by Elise Wien. I encountered this play in the spring and yet still find myself myself contemplating the parallels between swimming and gender fluidity. I would really encourage actors looking to venture into solo performance work and also any creatives interested in gender identity to check out this piece!

Oh how I loved this read! Hypotheticals explores the intersection of dating and neurodivergence in a way that is so fresh and original that I giggled my entire way through this read. Just like your favorite TV show, each character feels fully developed in a way that is uniquely their own, and Nguyen's lived experience and expertise with neurodivergence and psychology makes this play as truthful and relatable as it is charming. I read this for Wild Imaginings' Epiphanies Festival and am eagerly awaiting a chance to see this staged!

Where certain holiday traditions feel necessary and others feel performative, Smerkanich's Halloween reminds us to never assume our traditions translate. In this play, there is room for scoffing and room for learning how to communicate again. Wry yet heart-forward, I found this piece deeply reminiscent of people I know, which perhaps is a testament to Smerkanich's excellent carving of characters. I worked as a festival coordinator for the OOB Festival with this piece and would love a chance to work with this playwright, too!

Ragone's writing floats in poetry and lands in deep, connective resonance to our perceived ugliness and our true beauty. In this intimate two-hander, My Barricade asks us to examine the ways in which we deny our own beauty and asks us to step closer to each other in care as a result. Imperfect just as we are imperfect, these two individuals navigate their relationship and broader beauty standards in a raw and honest exchange. I'd love to see this again soon!

At the intersection of Inside Out and A Knight's Tale, DRAWBRIDGE is a scenic sprint of words and feelings with laughter and heart all along the way. The open casting and opportunity for play in both the verbal and the physical make this piece incredibly versatile. My favorite read in quite some time. I had the privilege of festival coordinating at the 48th Annual Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival where this play was last seen; it was there I learned this playwright is just as wonderful as she is brilliant! I so want to work with this playwright!

I, personally, find the reclaiming of canonical stories alluring; this play is the epitome of that. The moment with the sail at the end is quite theatrically satisfying because it gives the epic image onstage that the original Odyssey story may present, but here the spectacle is rooted in a story more of its audience can relate to. I find this play incredibly exciting. Someone produce this! #BAPF46

I read this for BAPF 46 and absolutely enjoyed my time with this story. Can't wait to see it on its feet one day! The playwright's voice is poetic and contemplative and unafraid of experimenting with style and form. The natural symbolism and roots of environmentalism are just alluring! I love how the characters blur the lines between character and nature and am obsessed with how every branch of this play subtly contributes to the symbolism of a tree and growth. Yes for this femme-centric and environmentally conscious play! #BAPF46