Recommended by Aly Kantor

As they say, "Haters gonna make some excellent points." This play is current, witty, potentially divisive, but always steeped in truth about humanity—and it rewards audience members who are paying attention! As a response to the "man in a dress" trope, it's quite brilliant! I love the deep specificity of the characters, down to the rings on their fingers, which is great to see in a play that preaches the necessity of imagining people complexly. Best of all, it has a FANTASTIC disarming twist!

If Ryan Kaminski can do anything, it's hide a twist in a twist, and you won't see this one (or the one after it) coming! I love how this play is loaded with lore (the type of stories I love), but always remains active, buoyant, and engaging. Plus, there is so much theatricality to play with, from hiding knives in cauldrons to making live worms appear on stage! Best of all, it's also 100% satisfying, with those who deserve it getting what's coming! A truly chilling, gorgeously efficient play!

This is a playwright who knows how to commit to a bit, with delightful joke payoffs, cheeky laughs, and callbacks that will keep audiences howling... and actors LITERALLY howling! While silly and spooky, I think what's brilliant is that there is actually more depth to uncover here - something about generational trauma, and what it does to our unfortunate offspring when we refuse to break negative patterns. But you won't have time to dwell on that until the ride home! You'll be too busy CACKLING!

This play is a haunting HOOT! I was lucky enough to read one of the roles in this one, and I can attest that hammy actors will have a BLAST taking these generous Pinter Pauses and racking up the laughs! This hilarious script knows when to spell out the subtext for maximum hilarious payoff and when to leave it in the stage directions, which are art and homage both. The way the Hookman legend is woven into this coming-of-age Godot is just masterful. I hope I get to direct this one day!

There is nothing scarier than being a teenage girl... except being a teenage girl with a haunted doll whispering to you in your dreams! This play is so creepy, leaving so much of the horror to the imagination! The suspense ramps up gradually, rewarding those tracking the clues in the lead-up to the big twist (which I won't spoil)! The character voices are authentic and specific, and the atmosphere is spectacularly spooky - part high school slumber party, part haunted attic, all creepy fun!

This is an eerie direct-address monologue loaded with gorgeous poetic language and elegant turns of phrase that will stick with you long beyond the final breaking of the glass! The playwright is a master of misdirection, leaving you to wonder if you can trust this adled storyteller, or if there is more to the story of mom's death that we aren't hearing. It has a consistent frenetic energy that makes audiences lean forward to take in more delicious details as they decide the truth for themselves!

This play is an evocative, high-stakes collage about a complex relationship between two flawed (yet insanely lovable) characters who feel vital and lived-in from page one. Their journeys, both internal and external, are non-stop and riveting—the structure, broken up with recorded scenes from their recent history, from most recent to least, keeps audiences engaged as they piece together the story behind the story. Simplistic but challenging, the set would be a designer's dream. Incredible!

If the mantra "Rise. Eat. Work. Eat. Sleep. Repeat" feels familiar, then this dystopian story, rich with thoughtful worldbuilding and propelled by metaphor, will resonate with you. There are so many tiny, meaningful moments of both rebellion and intimacy that feel larger than life in this claustrophobic world. Each one brings a novel, theatrical touch - flame, or drawing live on stage - ensuring no two performances will be identical. There is such a gorgeous sense of ritual throughout!

Oh, is this super tense micro-drama relatable, whether you're a parent of a school-age kid or not! Even with stakes as low as summer camp registration, your heart will be pounding as you root for this snarky, terrible, but lovable duo (who are clearly having some subtextual trouble in paradise)! The tension makes the perfectly timed humor pop, and the delightful cathartic release ensures the final reversal hits like a punch in the gut! This is the perfect scale for a ten-minute play.

If I had a dollar for every time this play made me laugh out loud, I'd be RICH!! I loved this charming, disarmingly honest, and perfectly awkward play about the delightfully accurate, nitty-gritty realities of coming of age as a queer girl in a religious environment. It's filled with authentic teen voices and a first-act reversal of epic proportions. It's such a moving tale of authenticity, perfect for teen audiences, and left me with a warm, fuzzy feeling that I will be carrying for a while!