Recommended by Maximillian Gill

The evocations of the landscape and the natural world are so vivid and significant in this play that they take on the aspect of a third character, interacting with and shaping the journey that the others take. I can't recall the last time I've read stage directions rendered so lyrically that they can be read as beautiful poetry on their own. A wonderful reminder of how small we are in comparison to the larger world and how much greater we are when we act in engagement with it. An important work for our time.

A fun short piece about faith and doubt that also digs into some very current political issues. I always love when a play starts out with a fairly quotidian scene but then takes a major left turn into something possibly magical and transcendent. Strong dialogue and characters throughout.

Anyone who's ever been in a mixed relationship (of any type) has been where this play goes. We see this young couple go from easy intimacy to questioning their commitment in a tight ten minutes, and it is simply heart-breaking to witness. Elbaz makes these characters real, never stereotypes or representatives of their respective cultures. A situation like this has no easy resolution, and this play has the courage to recognize that.

Plays like this simply thrill me. When a piece starts out just slightly absurdist but still grounded and then something completely unexpected happens that throws everything off kilter, yet the playwright manages to maintain control and bring everything to a satisfying close, I am absolutely thrilled and there for every minute. Broader themes about the nature of war and human destiny are brought in and challenged, and all of it is infused with witty, consistently interesting dialogue. A fantastic short piece.

This play is really a wonderful ride, and I have to appreciate any ride that ends up in a hot-air balloon. Augustin's dialogue is characterized by a deft wit, and the characters are always charming, individualized, and engaging; their actions are both consistently surprising and believable. The approach to subject carefully balances a tone ranging from light and airy to fatally serious. The play takes in so much, but at its heart it's a lovely tale about a relationship between two sisters. Thrilling and imaginative.

So many have taken on this classic epic, which is why I’m always impressed by a fresh take. Jadhwani manages to distill the main themes and plot points into a crisp one act with a powerful through-line. The focus on Sita’s perspective is treated with real weight and folds in plenty of extremely relevant commentary on gender roles. Jadhwani brings real drama to the story, making the mythic personal and resonant, and the dialogue is poetic while still feeling refreshingly contemporary. A marvelous work that I would love to see realized on stage.

Gacinski excels in devising absurdist situations depicting extremes of human behavior that paradoxically reveal universal truths about all of us. The situation he has sketched out in this piece takes on some of the most vacuous criticisms against the current protests in a powerful way, revealing the narcissism and insecurity at their core. I'm really looking forward to seeing where this piece goes as it develops.

I read a lot of plays that make my laugh, quietly to myself, as I'm usually alone when I read them. However, I couldn't stop myself from laughing out loud repeatedly at the wonderful wit displayed in Triplett's work. I would've never thought of putting these specific historical characters together, but it's a brilliant conceit. Triplett knows his original material well, but he rounds these characters out and pits them against each other in ways that are unique and startling. I love that the presence of a Nazi defector appears to be the least of anyone's problems. Marvelous stuff!

Some histories demand to be written about over and over again, because we as a society forget or we naively claim "it can't happen here." But this play is more than history; it documents how difficult it can be to stand up for your convictions when everything around is changing and sometimes you cannot even trust your friends to do the right thing. All of these young characters are immensely complicated and relatable, and we completely understand their difficulties with trying to figure out how best to fight oppression. This play is timeless and significant.

A deliciously gruesome Victorian tale in the penny dreadful tradition with a true rogues’ gallery of some of our favorite heroes and villains from period literature. To give specifics would ruin some of the delightful cameos, but all of these characters are rendered so perfectly and integrated so well into this brisk narrative that they seem to be DeVita’s own inventions. Multiple exquisitely constructed twists and turns are well suited for the genre. Underlying it all is an appropriately Brechtian critique of capitalist striving and excess. Propulsive and brilliant!