Recommended by Brenton Kniess

Rice creates a fantastical journey full of whimsy and heart. This play is widely creative and offers a great sense of childlike wonder within this world that Rice masterfully develops. Rice allows for some truly touching moments that just add extra delight to this charming play.

Like all of Heyman's plays I've read thus far, the dialogue is snappy, and clever, and allows each character to be completely fleshed out. Heyman does a particularly grand job of crafting the friendship between Lee and Shawn which truly is the focal point of this play and guided by some very amusing supporting characters. There are a lot of great dramatic moments that are set up expertly by Heyman. While this play has some nice humor to it, the touching moments will truly stick with an audience.

Barnes does a wonderful job of crafting and layering the comedy into this play. The dialogue is very fluid, fun, and fresh. There is a great sense of chemistry between the couple and Barnes allows for some great pacing to make this comedy flow. This is sure to make the theater erupt in laughter!

STARS is an emotionally gripping, funny, and truly thought-provoking play. Trumble writes these characters with ease, and their dialogue is very conversational, swift, and flows extremely nicely. Gene and Terry have a wonderful chemistry together that will be sure to make you smile. I would absolutely love to see this staged. Well done, Rick!

There is a sense of whimsy that Rinkel is able to create and I believe it will make you feel something strong inside of you. Rinkel is able to find a connection between two individuals, one who is pursuing to be a composer, and the other who wanted to be. I really love the dialogue between the two characters, and there are moments that are quite touching and will make you question, "Am I happy with what I did in life?"

The world-building worked great and added some unique elements to this play. Harrison crafts sharp but meaningful dialogue to keep the audience engaged in this very imaginative play. I found the play itself to be very fun and inventive. The fantasy elements work nicely, and a bit of suspense drives the story in unexpected directions. I found it very similar in the realm of SHE KILLS MONSTERS. Overall, Harrison crafts a great story and delivers it within this beautifully structured fantasy adventure.

It takes a talented playwright to make you smile and laugh and then makes your stomach twist into knots within the span of seconds. And VanBuren does just that. There’s great messaging here not only about gun culture, but also the healthcare system and how children are thrown and sometimes mixed right into it. This play will absolutely spark conversation and is sure to be decisive, but one cannot deny that VanBuren crafts a funny comedy with chilling undertones that will absolutely stick with you long after you left the theater.

The premise is very intriguing and whenever someone opens up a time capsule you know the results will be life changing. Oty does a great job with the dialogue and provides us a nice background of these characters and how their past influenced their future. I can see this play even be expanded to a one act.

Maurer creates a hilarious play with an awkward situation but sometimes the best plays have those situations. It has a classic Hollywood feel to it but also benefits from being set in the present. It’s obviously very funny, but also quite smart and full of great dialogue that really creates some great moments for dramatic storytelling.

Heyman crafts such a beautiful story in VIOLET AND HARRIS. There is a strong sense of emotional connection between Violet and Harris and we as an audience can feel that connection and puts and imprints on us as they have with each other. There’s a sense of whimsy but there is also a lot of hurt and a strong sense of loss. The ending is a complete gut punch and will make you think of your own life and your own past and future. An incredibly moving piece of theatre!