Recommended by Zach Barr

A tense war of words that build momentum early and drives hard and fast through twists and reveals, ending in a bitter conclusion. The play never argues that any of the characters’ overlapping identities are the source of their conflicting perspectives, and yet the show invariably leaves the audience wondering about the intersections of identity, power, intention, and trust. A welcome addition to the small canon of great “college professor’s office” plays.

Multiple times in this play, two seemingly separate perspectives about religion and queerness are smashed together, forcing the characters – and the audience – to try and reconcile with both views, and the result never ceases to shock. Tackling a lifetime of experiences into a play that is quick-paced and startlingly open-hearted, and told through three frustrating yet amiable characters, CHURCH HURT is a tour de force from Frauenhoffer, and well served by Black Cat Theatre's debut reading.

Jo and Sam are brilliantly realized characters, and their believable banter provides just enough detail about the world and people they've left behind to keep the audience deeply intrigued. A play in real time in a single location, and still excavating from that premise gripping questions about how we hold onto our past, and how to plan for a future that is actively slipping away.

Brutal and brilliant, Rosetta's script is a marvelous journey that asks for your patience and open mind. The play makes brilliant use of role doubling to dramatize the connections across time, in a manner only possible onstage. The language in the play is a unique mix of comedy and tragedy, and the heartfelt story makes us connect to the archetypes of Daughter, Mother, and Grandmother, just as much as each character. Well worth any resources it takes to make this story sing, for any company.

Maisie, the heart of Groustra's blisteringly funny play, is that marvelously rare sort: a protagonist not afraid to feel every emotion at 110%, to her detriment and our joy. As her self-confidence grows, so does her comfort with emotional intimacy, leading to scenes that will have the audience truly rooting for every character. A story centered on questions of how we voice our own desires, for other people and for ourselves – told with all the volume, cringe, and horniness that they demand.

A play that takes its time, adjusts its approach, asks you to listen, and builds to a satisfactory climax. Set in an adult toy business, Hehir's story is, at root, about the responsibilities and agonies of being an "adult." Being a leader when you still need to follow, failing to plan for the future when your present feels stymied, not getting what you need because you can't voice what you want. A long, patient play, but by the end I was still sad to leave these endearing, human characters.

I would call this a comparatively simple play, with its tight focus on two-person scenes, if not for the rich depth of emotion mined throughout, and the bristling potential of planetarium visuals throughout the work. What stands out most is that the spectacle within the play is constant, but never the focus, until it dramatically is. At heart, a tender tale of love and grief, anchored by three excellent roles.

The crown jewel of Jadhwani's modern adaptations of Indian folklore: vibrant, heartfelt, hilarious, well-paced, and utterly human. Enormous opportunities for a committed cast to make this story their own, and for each production to interpret the play's magical elements anew. I'm struck by the use of musical numbers – it's as though the play is the blueprint for a Bollywood jukebox musical, in a way that honors the emotion at the center of both those films and this fable.

It's a true testament to Ladhwani's writing that she can turn a story about one of the Ramayana's most distant villains into an emotionally-resonant tragedy without a singular antagonist. A retelling of the "offstage" parts of the story in a way that deliberately complicates the moral certainty of the original, while also folding in a host of compelling characters and space for thrilling stage combat and magic. With THE SITAYANA, a supreme adaptational one-two punch.

A fresh retelling of an epic, told from a singular perspective – "singular" in both the numeric and distinguished sense. Finding new motives for Sita that both justify and complicate the decisions she makes in the original myths, the play's distinctions between doing what one "wants" and what one "should" are presented with empathy, with humor, and without judgement. An adaptation that asks for, and earns, your trust.