Recommended by Maximillian Gill

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    The truest depictions of war don't revel in the thrill of agony of battle, they are instead honest about the endless hours in between, the ones that grind soldiers down incrementally through the dread of waiting for the inevitable slaughter. Gauthier's finely honed short piece captures a snippet of these hours with sensitivity and an eye for the most relevant details. Their lives feel desultory, but we are constantly engaged with them. The final moments are soul-crushing.

    The truest depictions of war don't revel in the thrill of agony of battle, they are instead honest about the endless hours in between, the ones that grind soldiers down incrementally through the dread of waiting for the inevitable slaughter. Gauthier's finely honed short piece captures a snippet of these hours with sensitivity and an eye for the most relevant details. Their lives feel desultory, but we are constantly engaged with them. The final moments are soul-crushing.

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    A briskly paced ghost story, mystery story, and journey towards redemption through art in one elegantly constructed play. Houk expertly keeps all of the elements in balance and drops in humor and dread at the right moments. The past and the present reflect each other, and we get closely involved with all of the characters. The sense of specific place is vivid and enhances both the sense of isolation and the comfort. I love the closing monologue and so much else about this exhilarating piece.

    A briskly paced ghost story, mystery story, and journey towards redemption through art in one elegantly constructed play. Houk expertly keeps all of the elements in balance and drops in humor and dread at the right moments. The past and the present reflect each other, and we get closely involved with all of the characters. The sense of specific place is vivid and enhances both the sense of isolation and the comfort. I love the closing monologue and so much else about this exhilarating piece.

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    What I love about this piece besides basically everything is how it plays in so many spaces at the same time (suspense, romance, travelogue) without seeming over-stuffed or unsure of what it is. And what it is is a marvelously unique piece about connections, disconnections, and all the heartbreaks in between. The sense of place is very real yet playful at the same time, and it offers us "fish out of water" characters played without all of the stock tropes. Sickles just never fails to dazzle.

    What I love about this piece besides basically everything is how it plays in so many spaces at the same time (suspense, romance, travelogue) without seeming over-stuffed or unsure of what it is. And what it is is a marvelously unique piece about connections, disconnections, and all the heartbreaks in between. The sense of place is very real yet playful at the same time, and it offers us "fish out of water" characters played without all of the stock tropes. Sickles just never fails to dazzle.

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    A beautiful and heart-wrenching piece. The trials that gradually wear down the protagonist are Jobian in scope but real and grounded, with the kinds of details that make the indignities imposed by impersonal systems feel personal. We cannot help but feel for the characters struggling to survive and wrest some hope from difficult circumstances. Levine masterfully builds everything, hemming the characters into desperate and limited choices. This is a play that will haunt me in the best way.

    A beautiful and heart-wrenching piece. The trials that gradually wear down the protagonist are Jobian in scope but real and grounded, with the kinds of details that make the indignities imposed by impersonal systems feel personal. We cannot help but feel for the characters struggling to survive and wrest some hope from difficult circumstances. Levine masterfully builds everything, hemming the characters into desperate and limited choices. This is a play that will haunt me in the best way.

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    A deeply moving play. Loftus uses a simple structural device of jumping between time points to illuminate character and the patterns that bind up lives. Everything reflects and recurs, showing the compounding effects of generational trauma. I am impressed by how smooth the transitions are and how we are never lost in the overall story line. This play has a huge heart, and I love how documenting through art points the way towards redemption or at least understanding. A wonderful achievement.

    A deeply moving play. Loftus uses a simple structural device of jumping between time points to illuminate character and the patterns that bind up lives. Everything reflects and recurs, showing the compounding effects of generational trauma. I am impressed by how smooth the transitions are and how we are never lost in the overall story line. This play has a huge heart, and I love how documenting through art points the way towards redemption or at least understanding. A wonderful achievement.

  • Maximillian Gill: A Passage To India by Doug DeVita
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    DeVita's reworking of the classic novel is both bold and deeply respectful. The story is streamlined, but the piece foregrounds some stunning details to enhance our understanding of the characters. The depiction of the Aziz/Fielding relationship is the heart of the piece, and it is truly wonderful to hear these characters speak so authentically and intimately. DeVita includes a forceful critique of colonialism and depicts how it saps the spirit of all involved. A Passage to India for our time.

    DeVita's reworking of the classic novel is both bold and deeply respectful. The story is streamlined, but the piece foregrounds some stunning details to enhance our understanding of the characters. The depiction of the Aziz/Fielding relationship is the heart of the piece, and it is truly wonderful to hear these characters speak so authentically and intimately. DeVita includes a forceful critique of colonialism and depicts how it saps the spirit of all involved. A Passage to India for our time.

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  • Maximillian Gill: what the hills remember by Samantha Oty
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    An astonishing piece. The setting--with its backdrop of Cold War paranoia and memories of the devastating loss of the previous war--is skillfully employed to take us on a journey of grief and anxiety leavened with moments of joy and intimacy. With only three characters the play gives us the feel of an entire town undergoing a crisis. The closing is a gut-punch and the final moments a set of thematically and emotionally packed pure visuals. A sensitively rendered play with multiple layers.

    An astonishing piece. The setting--with its backdrop of Cold War paranoia and memories of the devastating loss of the previous war--is skillfully employed to take us on a journey of grief and anxiety leavened with moments of joy and intimacy. With only three characters the play gives us the feel of an entire town undergoing a crisis. The closing is a gut-punch and the final moments a set of thematically and emotionally packed pure visuals. A sensitively rendered play with multiple layers.

    ”
  • Maximillian Gill: Missed Disconnections by Samara Siskind
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    I love a rom-com with a good twist, and this tightly constructed, clever piece has more than one! The characters are a delight, and the cliched personal ads are hilariously fun. I was fortunate enough to see a production of this piece performed by actors who had an expert feel for the witty, breezy dialogue.

    I love a rom-com with a good twist, and this tightly constructed, clever piece has more than one! The characters are a delight, and the cliched personal ads are hilariously fun. I was fortunate enough to see a production of this piece performed by actors who had an expert feel for the witty, breezy dialogue.

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  • Maximillian Gill: Do You Hear an Echo? by Cynthia Faith Arsenault
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    A hilarious and eerily timely piece about AI going amok! I saw a production of this play that used sound and light cues to bring out all of the details that are so carefully embedded in here. When fully realized, this play is consistently funny and clever and also more than a little scary.

    A hilarious and eerily timely piece about AI going amok! I saw a production of this play that used sound and light cues to bring out all of the details that are so carefully embedded in here. When fully realized, this play is consistently funny and clever and also more than a little scary.

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  • Maximillian Gill: Cricket by Erin Osgood
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    I'm so impressed by the elegant use of a simple sound cue to evoke the nagging ache of grief that permeates this piece. Well-constructed and full of warm humor as well as deep sympathy for the very real emotions these fully realized characters are experiencing.

    I'm so impressed by the elegant use of a simple sound cue to evoke the nagging ache of grief that permeates this piece. Well-constructed and full of warm humor as well as deep sympathy for the very real emotions these fully realized characters are experiencing.

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