Recommended by Matthew Weaver

Cat owners in particular will relate to this accurate depiction of pets in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Realistic and adorable.

Oh, my, this is so lovely.
I will echo Scott Sickles' sentiment that children and adults (especially the adults) need to read this play, particularly now.
Ahem. Especially the adults.
The concept, the imagery that Goldman-Sherman conjures is irresistible and gentle and fierce. Circle makes the point for Square, but is clear that Square needs to put in their own work into their learning and weed-clearing. But they can work together.
Ahem. Especially the adults.
The kids get it. The kids already know this stuff, or they would, if the adults would get out of their way.
Especially the adults.

You know that meme of Kristen Bell reacting to a sloth?
That's audiences everywhere when they get a load of Fuzzy. Fuzzy tried but the teacher had shoelaces. Fuzzy's got a bug on their butt. And now they're in their forever home.
Wyndham's youth monologues are always something to treasure, and FUZZY is an instant classic and automatic crowd pleaser, particularly if performed by a youth performer, although he's generous enough to let the grownups play too.
Absolutely adorable. So cute we are all in imminent danger of exploding from "Awww!"

They go low, we go high and Carnes goes short and ever so sweet and satisfying. As good as a fly on the wall POV as we can ever hope for and, let's be honest, as close as we really want to get.
SNL couldn't have done it better. Cathartic.

Timely, uncomfortable and delivers on the magic that only Hageman can deliver.
What's absolutely marvelous about this play is how balanced it is on a hot-button issue. Hageman, blissfully, cuts out all the rhetoric to deliver a compelling, personal story about a concerned parent and a kid who is exhausted from always doing the right thing. At no time is either character the bad guy (although Hageman gives Danny's highly believable and understandable frustrations their space), at no time does this feel forced or phony or anything but everyday and real.
Parents and kids alike will find much of value.

What I like about BEHIND THE SHED is how quiet it is. Muise dares to allow her characters to be still, and in doing so, reveals so much about them. The play feels ordinary and extraordinary for this stillness. It's intimate, we feel like we're eavesdropping, we feel bad that we're eavesdropping, we cannot look away. We've all been in this moment, we all will be in this moment again. Muise has captured how everyday it all is, and how momentous it feels.
Raymond Carver couldn't have written this play any better.

Add this one into your rotation of favorite annual holiday tales.
Muise offers a fresh take on the family Christmas tale with a voice that is all her own. It's frank and unflinching and funny and warm all in the same breath. This is so genuine and relatable; EVERYONE has a story like this. And yet how often do we see those stories played out? There is no last-minute angelic rescue or sudden Christmas epiphany or revelation. It's just a loving family spending time together. Which somehow makes it even better and in keeping with the true meaning of Christmas.

Asher Wyndham is the chronicler of specific experiences with his monologues and KAYLA DUNN finds the titular heroine still dealing with the aftermath of having her phone hacked, and intimate videos with her husband broadcast all over town. Wyndham paints Kayla's whole world in a few moments - her feelings of helplessness, her rage and even, perhaps most heartbreakingly, her shame. “Not your fault. You did nothing wrong. You don’t deserve this.” She tells herself. But her words to her bestie suggest she doesn't quite believe it. Wyndham achieves a whole new level of excellence with his latest monologue.

I needed to read these words RIGHT THIS VERY MOMENT, and I'm reasonably certain you probably do too. Or you will, one day. Or you might have needed them at one point.
This is Hageman's skill as a wordsmith. She is able to craft words that are wholly unique and personal and yet also comfortingly familiar and universal. And funny! "Your dentist hates you." And heartrendering! "Your cardiologist hates you." **weeps**
Hageman's heart speaks to those of us with similarly heavy, yet hopeful, hearts. She speaks for those hearts, too. May seeing the words uttered bring us all peace.

Everything that you love and embrace about a Lindsay Partain play is here: Her honesty, her gift for imagery, her willingness to give voice to the darkness of everyday life and romance, her hopefulness, her power, her strength. I should think any audience member, but particularly the women in the audience, would hear Partain's stunning dialogue and reflect in the privacy of their own hearts upon a past - or present - heartache that never quite goes away. Be the bold theatre that does a festival of Partain's plays; this signature monologue should be an automatic, mandatory inclusion.