Recommended by Maximillian Gill

A play about one of those unlikely relationships that goes to unexpected places and lands with an ending completely organic and startlingly poignant. Stewart's skill with the main characters is always assured, as is his deft approach to a panoply of fully realized secondary characters. His ability to make all of them essential parts of the unfolding drama is simply astonishing. Also, cats! As far as I'm concerned, the depth of characterization, humor, and insight brought to the non-humans puts a certain well-known musical to shame. Very impressive work.

A tour-de-force of a play recounting a journey into the very dark and misogynist heart of the protagonist's mother nation. Moments of humor, gaiety, and beauty are seamlessly integrated with shockingly vivid descriptions of assault. Sexuality initially presents itself in comic ways as a young woman explores her own sexual nature, but by the end it has become a weapon used against her. Hope peeks out in the final moments, but the reader is left shattered. I imagine this play would be powerfully performed in the right production.

I was immediately taken in by the clever conceit of this play as the characters narrate their own scene directions, but slowly and methodically this play becomes so much more as each action becomes weighted with the spell of two human beings being breathlessly taken with each other. The last few minutes are filled with moments of delicate beauty. The piece gives itself to a moment of budding romance like nothing I've read in a long time. Simply wonderful.

A marvelously witty and surprisingly poignant exploration of humanity from the side of someone who is decidedly not quite human. There are plenty of laugh out loud moments, but just when you get complacent with the humor, Madden gives you a gut-punch by forcing you to look bigotry right in the face. The use of a single perspective and character is very well handled, and this play would be a showcase for an actress ready to challenge herself. An impressive work overall.

The writer's trademark wit is evident throughout this compact work and caps off a stunner of an ending. I admire how well-rounded and present the characters are in just a few short minutes of dialogue. What really makes it work for me is the careful study of micro-aggressions incisively detailed and revealed as the simple prejudices they are. An important statement rendered with wonderful verve.

The use of two distinct character voices in this duologue is a marvelous way of demonstrating just how much we get wrong about another person's inner life. Lermond has an accomplished approach to the writing, each character is very distinct in voice and could not be mistaken for the other. What I find so fascinating is how each character comes away from their interaction feeling like they have achieved a victory. A testament to how complex people are, in drama and in real life.

Oh wow, I can feel my brain tingling after reading this wonderfully absurdist satire, yet another impressive offering from Gonzalez's endlessly fertile imagination. The play references a famous one by Ionesco but goes to very different and unexpected places. The multiple metaphors wind around each other, expand and contract, and leave the reader thinking about more issues relevant to humanity and society then I would care to count. An impressive tour-de-force with sharp humor and striking visuals throughout.

Like the best period pieces, Corley's play immerses us fully not only in the atmosphere and setting of another time but also in the social strictures. And also like the best period pieces, we are easily able to see ourselves in these characters. Their passions and hopes are instantly relatable, and their prejudices are recognizable and sadly too familiar even in our supposedly more enlightened area. The dialogue is a delight, easy to follow but redolent of another era when people really knew how to use their words. A powerful message to learn from a history too many have forgotten.

A theatrical dissection of a protagonist's personality with the use of "head characters" has never been done in such a bold, innovative fashion as in this tour-de-force by Daly. The author chronicles the unraveling of the main character's psyche with dazzling stage-craft that keeps you completely unprepared for what is coming next. You have probably never seen a refrigerator function as such a vital character. And within it all is a poignant study of a woman's difficult relationships with her mother and daughter. A staged version would be absolutely stunning.

Like the best speculative fiction, Goldfinger's play examines how a world founded on different principles affects people on the most human levels and extrapolates forward from our current reality. Here we have a utopia that is revealed to conceal the elements of a dystopia. We learn the darker side through the process of understanding the concerns of a set of characters whom we can't help but form strong bonds with thanks to Goldfinger's assured dialogue. Questions of nature vs. nurture are examined and late-act reveals force us to re-evaluate the characters and the plausible world they inhabit. Impressive work.