Recommended by Franky D. Gonzalez

A gut punch in one minute. Heartbreaking. Sad. Infuriating.

David Beardsley's LAST GASP makes me recall several great works of poetry and literature. It recalls Eliot's final lines in The Hollow Men, it makes me think of Poe's sci-fi short The Converation of Eiros and Charmion, but with all of the humor and laugh out loud moments of the best most pitch black comedy routines. It'll have you feeling the stakes and working toward the massive reveal that will leave your jaw dropped. You'll laugh and then go "ohhh..." right after. A really fun, yet interestingly meditative, play about the human condition in the hour of greatest crisis.

The birth of friendships are always a beautiful thing to witness. In Marj O’Neill-Butler’s sensitive and humorous play FINDING HELP will take you on a journey that will make you both smile and appreciate the gravity of a much more frequently incurring scenario in the U.S. Equal measures funny and serious, this play is lovely and timely. I hope it has a long production life.

A deeply human play putting guilt, art, parenthood, abandonment, and love together. To read this play isn’t enough. It should be read aloud to be experienced properly as any good play should be. Anna Tatelman makes a beautifully lyrical play that not only tells a story but also reflects two points of view going through a deep angst as time and historical events pass. A marvelous work.

What an amazing and absolutely delightful play. Steven Bogart creates a elevation through absurd and deliciously repulsive characters. Beautiful language, ridiculously hilarious circumstances, and—surprisingly—tender. A fun ride of a play. You will not regret reading it. Better yet, you will not regret reading it aloud with friends or producing this play.

A horror story told with the same gravitas as someone talking about a cloudy day, which makes the story that much more terrifying. I can just envision being the characters receiving this monologue and staring at the Appalachian Woman with terror at how frank and straightforward this monologue is. McBurnette-Andronicos has an absolutely delightful gift on display here. She makes what would be the nightmares of the soul the mundane Tuesday’s of her protagonist. The effect becomes funny, chilling, and disquieting. I want to know more about the interesting life of this person who sees demons. Fantastic work!

Ali MacLean has created one of those unique plays where you are (internally or literally) yelling out at both Hugo and Gen to do the right thing or to not do the self-destructive thing, or to do so many things that you know you yourself wouldn't do just like Hugo and Gen if you were in their shoes. It's a play that is heart-achingly sad, raw, tender, and gets you feeling so much so quickly. I couldn't believe I was done with the play when I reached the last page. Ali is a playwright to watch and produce. Read this.

It's easy for casts exceeding three to have characters that sound the same, but in this dramedy, Molly Wagner has created five clear and distinct voices audiences to take in. Molly achieves spectacular effects turning laughter into drama of the highest stakes in a single line. It's a play that is both an amazing read and even better in production. Reaching beyond its assigned age-group, #CaseyandTommyGetHitched is the kind of play that will get audiences of all backgrounds and ages laughing, reflecting, and perhaps even inspire the empathy needed to bring down the preconceptions that too-often separate us.

The play would be silly if this wasn't so pertinent to our society today. It's a play that uses conventions of the absurd with social commentary to create something that is both all to realistic and familiar--especially if you're a person of color, a woman, or a woman of color--navigating the "good ol' boy" system of corporate America. Yet this is par-for-the-course if you've lived this. Where the play most shines is its attacking of false empathy. I won't spoil it here, but it rung very true and is a vital part of the conversation on fixing system inequality.

I feel as though Philip Middleton Williams has created an amazing Sci-Fi mashup while still also giving a critique of the consolidation of so many storied intellectual properties under the umbrella of a few parent companies. Capitalist critique interpretations aside, however, Chewie, Get Us Out of Here is a whirlwind of a play that has you wanting to look up each line in the play so that you make sure you don't miss a single reference. You'll have fun with this giant "party line" of a conversation between legendary characters who feel like their wires got crossed making phone calls.