Recommended by Ricardo Soltero-Brown

A play where its quickness is not only effective but quite possibly the point. A brutal, curt, perceptive piece about the current nightmare of achieving the American dream. A retort to any generation or class that can take success and opportunity for granted. A bitter morsel of truth for those out of touch with the slippery, unforgiving slope of poverty and struggle.

A kind of play that I've grown to have a particular fondness for, one culminating in an act of kindness. How strange that an act so simple can be so dramatic, how it speaks to social, political, and economic issues. The breadth of this tree's branches can make your stomach sink, your heart soar, and your mind race.

There's nothing quite like Rachael Carnes having fun. In this short piece written to be performed in total darkness, Carnes still finds time to shed light on power, people, and institutions. The gags and dialogue will cause squirms and squeals of glee.

A beautiful work about three siblings in a car. As they travel, Hageman displays a gift for sharp, lively, playful dialogue. She navigates their trip with turns both sad and loving. A wonderful, darkly comic piece with characters whom you can imagine are picking up right where they left off. This is some of the best and most believable character work that I've read in quite a while. The actors are given daggers and flags which they'll easily eat up, enjoy, and come to love.

One of Wyndham's most disturbing works. The specific use of the chorus from a particular Kendrick Lamar song is devastating and speaks to the thoroughness and thoughtfulness of Wyndham's writing. The kids aren't (going to be) alright, not in this climate, not if the kind of too-close-to-fact "fiction" that's depicted here is the direction being taken. This play feels terrifyingly prophetic, fearing the future, created with a full consideration of the past, and an urgent warning for the present.

This's a poignant, rather deft piece not so much about neuroticism but maybe more about fear, although both are given equal shares of focus. Keenya Jackson has created a play where the real conflict is simmering, however rising to a boil, just beneath the surface. We know the trouble is there, even though Jackson's character Sheila is concentrated on the significance of (what is perhaps, or is perhaps not entirely) an insignificant tuna sandwich. The adept construction of this drama finds its rock hammer in a stinky office refrigerator, which serves as the excuse for Sheila to chip away. Impressive!

Jagernauth's short, sharp, deep, dark comedy about a malefic mother plays upon several razors' edges - balancing, proposing, suggesting an array of styles, stagings, and interpretations - with a script that might have put Dario Fo to the test, or Peter Handke and Martin McDonagh into a sweat; perhaps its potential is congenitally more W. C. Fields, Marx Brothers, Mel Brooks, etc. No matter. However you decide to make it, 'Skin' holds onto its themes, with Jagernauth again investigating the (both literal and metaphorical) physical limitations of the body, the deconstruction, construction, donning, and doffing of one shell for another.

Lillian Hellman, I believe, would love this play; Ayad Akhtar, too, for that matter. However, I mention Hellman because she knew there were three integral Dramas: Death (Will they die?), Sex (Will they screw?), and Money (Who gets it?). Hellman knew men get to talk about everything on stage, and she said, No, I'm going to have women do it. Sullivan is equally as brave. Her play is about money, but with a dose of sex. This is an important piece about women in the world of men. One of the top plays that I've read on New Play Exchange.

Certainly one of the most important, integral, and interesting relationships to discuss and dismantle in the investigation of gun violence, laws, and control. Bykowski makes a breathtaking move through her focus on a marine, a supposed killing machine, who - in fact - "gets it." The lust, temptation, and subjugation her "partner" commits to is bizarrely clear, tragically urgent, and absurdly recognizable. This play is insightful, courageous, clever, and brave.

Twisted. Effective. Makes your stomach sink.