Recommended by Zach Barr

Treading a fine line between hope for a future and mourning for the past, Coffey's play is a vital consideration of what it means to cause harm and be forgiven. Time collapses together onstage as it does in the deepest ice sheets, forcing the audience to see the proceedings at both a geologic scale and a human-to-human perspective at the same time. A bravura showcase for a skilled lead actress.

The only person more insufferable than a genius is a teenage genius, and it’s a testament to Evans-Wickberg’s writing that Charlotte retains the audience’s sympathy even as she spirals into artistic pretentiousness. Laugh out loud funny, but hiding a tragic heart beneath, the play asks potent questions about the true value of family, friends, activism, and honesty. A delight to watch in workshop.

The scariest comedy wrapped in the funniest horror play, or maybe vice versa. Powell’s enormously ambitious story about the violence committed to women and the guerrilla resistance that follows is a bonafide feast for any company brave enough to stage it. Six sterling roles that kill with their comic timing and lacerate with their honesty. I’ll be thinking about it for a long while.

Parsi's script begins with an incredible premise, plays out the drama with measured restraint, and leads gravely to an unforgettable ending. The interweave between how the truth can be wielded – as a weapon against consequences but also as a shield to safeguard memory – is handled deftly, in ways that will keep audiences debating long after the curtain. Shockingly tense just to read, and likely even more so to watch.

An American folk tale about the tension to prove yourself to people and forces beyond your control, recounted by two enormously likable and rough-edged voices. It brilliantly captures the congenial nature of a bar setting – it's begging to be staged site-specifically. Two people the world has deemed dispensable proving their worth, in more ways than it seems.

Lin's heavy, relentless story feels, at times, like a dare: how far can you follow the story of two sisters as they stare down circumstances that are nearly certain to leave them resenting each other? And how long can their love hold out against the dark world around them? A gripping narrative, an almost cinematic structure, and a blunt discussion of motherhood that gives no easy answers.

A play balanced perfectly on the fence between romantic sentimentality and yawning nihilism. Intergalactic in scope, yet constructed from dozens of tiny, intricately detailed scenes, which speak to so much more beyond the text. Choi's stark screed against the seemingly impermeable reign of humanity has the counterintuitive effect of capturing the brief, fragile beauty of being granted a life. The script has only grown richer since its pre-pandemic debut.

Beginning as a journey to confront the past, Vaish’s script twists devilishly and gradually into a wider exploration of guilt, generational trauma, and the shadow of self-loathing. Acknowledging the audience as viewers raises the stakes, and the ethereal setting allows for enormously creative scenic design without letting spectacle overwhelm the strong core. Incorporating elements of ritual (and food preparation!) help it stand out as a gripping, significant play.

An absolute jewel of a play. A richly drawn story of longing, surrounded by shadows of prejudice and impersonal cruelties done for "the greater good." Coffey's worldbuilding is sparse yet sharp, handing enormous opportunities to the director and designers, to define and interpret this ghostly world. Complicated, layered roles for the entire ensemble, and an ending that finds emotional closure while leaving the line between reality and fiction romantically blurred. Strongly recommended.

An unapologetic joyful void-scream about the tension between the stability of external validation and the radical uncertainty of self-endorsed art. In every aspect it mirrors the feeling of the furious teenage zine at its center: always a little out of focus, but with passion and raw desire that make it compelling at every moment. A play demanding multiple reads to pick up its deep layers – and a production by a brave theatre company.