Recommended by Maximillian Gill

The range of subtle character development that Wagner achieves in this relatively short piece is astonishing. Also impressive are the many shifts of time as we see characters at various stages in their lives. I watched a virtual reading and was never confused as to where we were in the story, a testament to the clear writing and carefully rendered structure. Yet what really holds this play together are the characters and their relationships to each other and their faiths. Ultimately, their respect for each other's humanity itself has a sacred dimension. Another delicate, wonderful piece by Wagner.

With shades of Pinter and Beckett, but uniquely its own, Perez's short piece achieves whole new levels of existential dread. It's quick-moving and full of wit and energy with a dark undercurrent that keeps us guessing. A magic 8 ball functions as a third character whose presence brings in unexpected complications.

With Chanukah just around the corner, it was a real delight to read this short play and revel in all of the wonderful specific details. The father's recounting of a family squabble in an epic register is full of wit and great character moments. The relationship between the father and son is textured and full of subtleties that skilled actors could really dig into. A wonderful two-hander.

Words frequently seem so ineffective for responding to the worst atrocities people suffer, but occasionally I come across a piece of writing that responds with such directness, honesty, and bravery that it redeems my faith in art to move us beyond the horrors. I would say that about this short piece by Miller. It needs to be read, and performed, and contemplated, and grappled with. It does exactly what art at its best does.

So much is packed into this monologue. The tragedies are specific, but they speak for so many other tragedies happening all around us. The protagonist's journey to faith is also specific, but it as well speaks to the universality of faith. Stunning, both simply rendered and poetic, worth multiple readings to fully get all of the layers.

A wonderful parable about getting outside of yourself and your own culture and seeing that the way other people do things has value too. The character is also very unique as an American immigrant in a new country working on the process of assimilation that immigrants everywhere go through. Also an important message for our time, all wrapped up in a compact monologue.

Lively and hilarious throughout! Yet through the humor Latham manages to capture several layers of the difficulties so many are having navigating through this time as well as the variety of social strategies we are all using. A great opportunity for an actor with comic timing and a sensitivity to the nuances (such as the wonderful performance I saw in the PGE monologue festival).

The central traumatic incident in this powerful short piece is rendered with shattering honesty and the bravery in the writing is admirable, but what really kicks this one up to the next level for me is the use of an older character's perspective, remembering an event from decades ago and filtering it through their own maturity as well as situating it within the current cultural moment. Compact and devastating.

I always know I'm in for a powerful journey whenever Malakhow takes me "to school." The writer has such an instinctive grasp of characters at these crucial ages and their struggles dealing with their peers and their own identities. This piece's setting during the height of Covid adds another layer. We've all read a few Covid-related plays by now, but this is the first one I've read that makes such a vital connection between the stifling dread of lockdown and a character's self-imposed psychological shutdown. I look forward to seeing how this play progresses as it is already very strong.

A warm and funny piece about generational conflicts and how we resolve them and learn to understand our elders or youth, and if that was all this play was about it would be real and compelling, particularly with McShane's natural ear for good dialogue and effortless wit. But the playwright kicks this one up to the next level by introducing an absolutely bonkers quest for an invention that ends up as a marvelous device for understanding faith and believing in yourself and others. McShane's touch is light and fun but he touches on several deeper themes. Engaging work!