Recommended by Heather Helinsky

I highly enjoy plays that take us away to another world, but the world depicted in JILT, unfortunately, is rather close to our own. Even though this is a "near-future" world, it's more than just a dark mirror that reflects our own. Jae is trying to pursue justice for Aika in a world where language is manipulated by the powerful. Jennie Webb's use of language is jarring, playful, and pointed. Language in this play describes, normalizes, and cages us in. I hope this play gets an opportunity to go from the page to stage soon.

Intimate story of three young Christians, struggling with similar questions to the biblical Job: abandonment, where is God right now, why are these events happening to me? I enjoyed the red/white imagery, and the significance of the events occurring over the Easter weekend. Well rendered.

Why is "the human element" always bringing chaos to a Utopian society? Because of course, ideals are difficult to live with. In this self-aware new comedy, read recently at Great Plains Theatre Conference, Nell has to decide if she is going to truly live by her ideals when one of her fellow farm-mates brings home a "dude". I love the twist when we see Leif genuinely trying to embrace the community, in his own way. He may be one of the elements of chaos to the community, but it's really human nature and good intentions that get parodied the most.

From the first time I read this play in 2015 to when I saw the Boston Playwrights production in May 2017, I was impressed by Raker's re-imagining of this Southwestern myth. It questions how young women are raised, their image of body and self, and relationship with the world. Will these three young women get turned away by St. Peter at the gate, like La Llorona? This piece, like water, flows organically through important feminist questions in a relatable, funny, irreverent way.

Vivid, intense, fluid storytelling. It's hard to replicate the feeling of the first time you read ARABIAN NIGHTS or ALICE IN WONDERLAND, but this one will take you down the rabbit hole. This play will make you feel both overwhelmed by the city, lost in the crowd, but also an individual who has the right to laugh & grieve. This piece deals with loss and abandonment; I feel in good hands with Capodicasa's poetic writing. Audiences will purchase a ticket to Mastavia, and after visiting (if they can find their way out of the labyrinth), will leave cathartically changed.

Within this well-made play is a deep passion for silent film, and the kinds of characters who truly revere them. Using the characters of a young drifter and an elderly film aficionado, the audience will enjoy both a sweeping look at the history silent films and deeper insights. Yet beneath the sun-kissed surface, it's also a story about the quirky individuals who come to live in LA in the shadows, and Abley's dialogue really captures affectionately their lives and motivations.

This piece bravely uses the superhero plot to take on rape culture. This is a piece where Vanessa gets into a situation that's relatable---as her workplace ideas get stolen and her comic heroine is objectified by the men in her life. Hoke does good work here flipping the narrative in fun, surprising ways. I hope it continues to receive support and development towards production, as it will easily find an audience.

As a dramaturg for the Great Plains Theatre Conference (2017), I highly recommend this comedy. Two clowns, trying to "become friends" and start an "energy business"...we know this is not going to end well, but you'll have a good time laughing along the way.

As a dramaturg at the Great Plains Theatre Conference, we were thrilled to have CAM BABY in our 2017 PlayLabs. This piece grabs you for a fast-paced roller coaster ride through relationships and doesn't let you go. A brutally honest comedy about mean-spirited and stupid people, with a star-turn role for the actor playing Matabang. Explores questions of over-sharing online, privacy, and trust. Our audience sang this play's praises.

This play is like a painting that catches your eye in a museum and makes you stop---because it is simultaneously familiar and unfamiliar, simple yet complex, accessible yet layered with meaning. This play of Caridad's is full of imagery and modernist poetry, it evokes for me the kind of American imagery of Norman Rockwell, William Carlos Williams, and Muriel Rukeyser. We learn what America is through the eyes of an eleven year old with a red bike, who could forget all his observations the moment he turns 12. Great read.