Recommended by Heather Helinsky

The community of National Committee readers for the 46th Bay Area Playwrights Festival advanced YOU'RE NOT A MYSTERY TO ME as a Semi-Finalist at Playwrights Foundation. We appreciated the characters' search for connection and their aching loneliness in this high concept play about AI and mental health. We found compelling what the writer was reaching for in this statement piece frankly addressing isolation and intimacy within depression. We hope this play is considered for further development and investigation, and finds dedicated collaborators in this play’s journey towards production. #BAPF46

The community of National Committee readers for the 46th Bay Area Playwrights Festival advanced UNCUT as a Semi-Finalist at Playwrights Foundation. We highly enjoyed the well crafted, economical dark humor of the piece that makes a deeply complex topic, FGM, accessible. We were engaged by the questions of bodily autonomy, upholding of patriarchy, and tradition. We hope this play is considered for further development and investigation, and finds dedicated collaborators in this play’s journey towards production. #BAPF46

The community of National Committee readers for the 46th Bay Area Playwrights Festival advanced ME & WHO as a Semi-Finalist at Playwrights Foundation. We highly enjoyed the imaginative, playful, and unapologetic style in this story of two Princess roommates. We were compelled by Princess Cookie's mental health journey, as well as wildly fun moments and imagery that contrasted with deeper insights about the impact of our words and actions on friends and lovers. We hope this play is considered for further development and investigation, and finds dedicated collaborators in this play’s journey towards production. #BAPF46

It's always a joy to encounter a play written in a specific genre---in this case 1930s noir---but centering queer characters and history. Playfully flirting with the play-within-a-play form as this Yiddish theatre company produces Twelfth Night, I enjoyed the heartwarming characters as they searched for love and a community space where they could be true to themselves. This is a play where the stakes are high for every character and tension and mischief abound.

This revenge play imaginatively blends a character from the historical Ravensbruck concentration camp with contemporary #metoo, with biblical allusions. I admire the farcical stylistic choices while asking tough questions about confronting your abuser. This play is a unique take on ethical questions surrounding justice for victims while also remaining playful and hitting horror-genre notes. Will Esthie ever find the right words to say to The Body? This play works through the question of "when do we ourselves become monsters?" in an individual's search of a way to heal from trauma.

This was a compelling read about matrilineal ancestral power, seeking wisdom and magic (but not always finding answers). It's full of imagery around birth, revolution, fruit, birds, and homeland. The tough questions asked of the next generation, such as: "what do you want, to heal or seek power?" still sit with me. Told in a stylistically innovative way with highly poetic and rhythmic language, this multilingual play about intergenerational tensions should be read widely and produced.

Sable Venus' epic & tragic journey from Mt. Olympus to the West Indies made this a compelling read. There were many contemporary themes, such as how it feels to be the only goddess of color in Zeus' white European Olympus, as well as the classical themes of gods transforming & interfering with human matters. The moment of Titan's betrayal really hit me, as well as the strong community of women Venus finds later in her journey. The love story with Venus & Athena is such a positive, healthy relationship, we need to see more of those stories staged too.

This play grabbed me from the start with its characters that have stuck with me from reading it over a year ago. I really enjoyed the audience's relationship with Aika as she speaks to us of the New Mexico landscape around her and her family traumas. It's lyrical yet also realistic language makes it a really strong piece that I hope gets produced someday soon.

This is a fascinating historical character, and this play brings her front and center to her contribution to history and women's health. This play helps us see her conflict between being a "good girl" in the world of Mad Men advertising, and the struggle to stand up for herself and take credit for her own ideas. The ensemble playing style not only creates the world of 1967, but keeps Meg Crane at the center, and gives her agency as she tells her story. Would love to see audience engagement events created for a production of this play!

I enjoy when a play teaches me about a part of history that I'm not aware of, and Helen is quite a force of nature as she protects her water lily farm and the neighborhood. A moment that really captured me is the complicated scene between Helen and Mariah's Aunt Mae, as both women navigate the swampy waterways of race, class, privilege, and community.