Recommended by Matthew Weaver

A zillion kudos to Orloff for doing the legwork and actually getting out and investigating the people who so mystify him (and his liberal friends).
Orloff fans - I am one!- will not be surprised to know that he approaches these interviews with an open mind and heart and great empathy for the subjects, holding up our own possible prejudices for a nuanced, informative depiction that never shies away from curiosity or the hope for understanding.
A followup from Rich with MAGA voters (if he could do it safely) would be equally fascinating and disquieting.
Simply a marvel.

Every word, every syllable, every PAUSE crackles for maximum effect. If Orloff had been born sooner than he was, we'd be watching this on all the black-and-white classic movie channels, and deservedly so.
There's not a weak note in the cast, well, maybe Harvey, and he's there to serve the purpose of being deliberately awful and unredeeming. My favorite character is all the rest of them (OK, perhaps with an edge to Alan).
You're having so much fun reading/watching the play, you don't realize you've fallen in love with the show until it's much, much too late.

Orloff takes the 1950s stereotpyical family and turns it inside out and sideways, offering sly commentary, barbed wit and a not-quite-tense hostage situation in which it's never entirely clear who exactly has the upper hand.
The entire time, the sarcasm flies fast and furious, laden with Orloff's heart and genuine affection for each and every character (although Spot is a particular gem and totally, utterly my favorite).
Instead of staging the umpteenth revival of the current trend, here's a nifty idea: Stage DOMESTIC TRANQUILITY instead. Your audience will swear it feels like a classic.

Who among us HASN'T wished they could go back and witness their actual birth.
Jennifer mysteriously gets to, and in doing so, gets to bear witness to a multitude of long-time family secrets and murmurings she's always wondered about.
And yet, at the same time, she gains new understanding, of her mother and father, her grandmother, her uncle and his first wife ...
As with all of his writing, Orloff infuses his characters with wry wit, but offers them great compassion and understanding as they try to navigate a momentous time in their lives, and life in general.

A delicious bit of absurdist satire, and a metaphor for life. Made me pause and reflect on how often Opportunity might have stopped by to knock on MY door, and I sent them away. But Orloff's play will lead many audience members to view Gladys' predicament, and empathize/relate to her questions of how to ensure life is truly worth living.
SOMEONE'S KNOCKING is a lovely introduction to Orloff's writing, if you haven't yet had the pleasure. He offers thoughtful, skewering commentary on society today, always laden with with kindness and grace for his characters and we flawed humans alike.

Smith takes one of the most notorious incidents in American and human history and humanizes it. She shows us the hopefulness of intrepid pioneers navigating their way to California, and the ways that they fail. All the while, her characters are rich with compassion and empathy, yet she does not shy away from their faults.
In doing so, she paints a rich portrait - of wives who voice their concerns, of husbands who would have done better to listen, among others along the trail - and makes history come to life in a most appealing - and harrowing - fashion.

As fond as I am of Sickles' TARTARUS (so, so fond!) I believe the SECOND WORLD TRILOGY is Sickles' magnum opus, thus far.
MARIANAS TRENCH is an innocent love story in the face of tyranny. It's a love story in the face of childhood angst and bullying and sorrow. And then it turns into a story of escape, and hope.
Devious bastard that he is, Sickles laces all-too possible political turmoil and encyclopedic knowledge with the more irresistible, most adorable, most everyday cast known to humanity. Which makes the love story all the more powerful and hopeful.

As fond as I am of Sickles' TARTARUS (so, so fond!) I believe the SECOND WORLD TRILOGY is Sickles' magnum opus, thus far.
PANGEA is the most hopeful of the trilogy - for the love of God, READ AND PRODUCE ALL THREE!!! - in spite of overwhelming reasons to be not hopeful. It's hope that against all odds, two lovers can find each other even when they've traversed the stars and the seas - and penguins! - on their own. And that their love can still burn as boldly, and shine as brightly.

As fond as I am of Sickles' TARTARUS (so, so fond!) I believe the SECOND WORLD TRILOGY is Sickles' magnum opus, thus far.
THE KNOWN UNIVERSE is our payoff for sticking with Teddy/Lincoln and Anzor/Andy for five decades, through redacted letters, penguins and deep-sea/space exploration.
Devious bastard that he is, Sickles laces all-too possible scientific catastrophe and encyclopedic knowledge with the more irresistible, most adorable, most everyday cast known to humanity. Which makes the conclusion all the more heartwrenchingly brave.
This is a love letter to love, family, sex and science. Sickles and the audience leave triumphant.

I LOVE this entire concept. Irresistible from the very first moment, as Sickles wisely drops us right in the middle of the action, and trusts his audience to catch up.
Better yet, it's one of those rare and treasured moments when a whole bunch of random plot lines suddenly come crashing into one another. Like the best concerto, Sickles sticks a bunch of seemingly random and unrelated instruments together and then makes unexpected, beautiful, surprising music with them.
The next time you're putting together a festival of Bigfoot-themed plays, UNDER COVER OF DARKNESS had better be amongst them.