Recommended by Franky D. Gonzalez

It is difficult to envision a play that is both economical and expansive at the same time. It is difficult to imagine cataclysms and sharing some food on the way to a hotel room to be related. It is difficult to envision many things that seem like they shouldn't fit thematically, and yet in the hands of Greg Romero what is difficult to imagine becomes so easy to conceive. It feels like these seemingly contradictory pieces could only ever fit together. A marvelous play. Hilarious &heartbreaking.

A wonderful meditation on grief and how we all cope with loss through the lens of the mystery genre that produced Scooby Doo and the Hardy Boys. John Adams infuses the real-world cynicism of that familiar formula of catching investment bankers masquerading as ghosts, but loses none of the earnestness and heart of the genre its inspired from. The result is a mystery within the mystery where solving the puzzle may actually lead to a way forward after untimely loss.

Having gotten to both read this play and experience actors speaking the lines, Philip Middleton Williams WATERCOLORS explores the place of grief, memory, and legacy that occupies such large portions of our life. The play asks big questions, poses a complex and deeply emotional choice, and takes the world of art into the world of the soul. Nothing is easy in this play, and yet for all its complication, WATERCOLORS never sacrifices its heart. A wonderfully rendered painting of a play.

Getting to see this amazing play that took a writing premise and turned it into a hilarious, at-times raunchy, and ultimately meditative play that explores the lives we lead outside of certain environments, aging, and just plain silliness. Philip Middleton Williams has written a really delightful, and genuinely surprising piece that has so many plot twists and turns in such a short period. A really fun, lovely play!

A hilarious take on mother-son dynamics with twist after hilarious twist. John Busser has taken the hallmarks of farce--miscommunication, wit, foreshadowing, rapid-fire line delivery, and melodramatic punch--to create a play that will leave you laughing from start to finish. And while this play is decidedly a comedy, it also has a lot heartwarming moments and centers the ultimate place of love at the center of a family that persists through life and (un?)death.

A chilling, complex, disturbing, and utterly human look at the complexities of immigration, fleeing violence, the plight of the refugee, and the complex realities of othering in a host nation’s society. Max Gill has achieved a rare feat in this short work. He has distilled a prescient yet timeless matter and gave room to hold its entire complexity within the span of 20 minutes and a single song’s payment. This play needs to be seen everywhere. I cannot recommend this play enough.

A play that leaves you disquieted, moved, and deeply affected, Andrew Rosendorf has crafted a tremendously beautiful work about a perspective that has been too long swept under the rug and forgotten by the powerful whom it inconveniences. This play is a defiant, necessary addition to the American canon, documenting--witnessing--a reality that demands remembrance and seizes it unapologetically. Produce this everywhere and see this play not just as history but as a warning of what's at stake now.

There is not much more that I can add to the very worthy praise that this play has received. Osmundsen has created a play that is not only engaging but creates a necessary and important work for the autistic community in the arts. In an industry which relegates people with autism into tropes and secondary plot points, it is so refreshing--and vitally needed--to see the journey of Henry play out with so much heart and truth. This play needs to be more widely read and produced.

There are some plays that remain with you long after they’re done. Some that leave you stunned and in awe of what you just witnessed.
Shows where the story is so fantastic that it feels like it must be true. Somehow. The American Dream is one such show. It is a pressure cooker. It is tension. It is the American pathos in its beauty and its brutality. What a ride. What an intense ride.

An experimental satire set in the past but right at home in our current time. The playwright scot west creates a wildly inventive genre-bending and genre-blending political comedy that lampoons American society while cutting into the heart of our great debate on modernity vs. tradition. Despite its comedic tone, this play will leave you ruminating on some of the most serious questions currently being asked in the U.S. while also making you quite concerned for corn, messenger pigeons, donkeys, and the ghosts of great leaders who have guided us through turmoil. A fun fever dream of a play!