Recommended by Matthew Weaver

A Hoke play is always something to treasure. Here she offers an intimate, fascinating look at the love story between two of cinema's all-time greats, Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. Hoke seamlessly blurs facts galore with an imagining of how that farewell might've, could have, gone. Sure, these are famous faces who've never quite found peace with their celebrity. But they could easily be ANY love story that's not quite over yet. These would be dream roles for any performers, starmakers for the untested or a well-earned challenge for familiar faces looking for meaty roles in which to excel.

YES. Burbano's play is a Titus Andronicus prequel, but in writing this she asks us what to do with men. Especially those men today that would harm and abuse and prey upon women. Tamora steels herself with an answer that sets the stage for a classic, but outlines the tasks society has in front of it.
All of Burbano's ferocity, intelligence and gift for channeling her grief are here. May her words find their way to people who will do them justice.
If you're not reading/producing a Diana Burbano play, are you even truly doing theater?

Welcome baby Nebuchadnezzar!
Boy, does a Sickles play pack a wallop! He gets it, he really does. About unrequited love, about the failure to connect; about loneliness, during the holidays or during ordinary time.
ALL IS CALM finds strength in the melancholy and captures these emotions so they are written down for future generations to read and acknowledge with knowing nods. (That said, all right, Universe, we get it! Enough already!)
Selfishly, I'd love more Sickles plays written just as the year changes. But, Universe, it'd be an even better tradition if his loving fella told him, "Wait until tomorrow."

What can we do as playwrights?
What can we do to change the world?
This is something I think about ...
Diaz-Marcano, though, knows. He does it every day.
We can raise our voices. We can use our words. To speak. To elevate others. To call out power when power does not want to called out. To inject unease into the daily lives of the comfortable. To change minds.
We can speak.
We can change the world. With our words.
Nelson knows this. He knows.
Thank you, as always, Nelson, for your beautiful words.
Read and produce this play, please.

Martin beautifully captures the moment before a couple learns their destiny, and in the course of two pages/60 seconds gives us the entire summary of their life together, the thing they want most. Danica and Joel are right on the cusp, the precipice, possibly even the breaking point .. Moving and lovely.

This is a fascinating, dark and intimate look at, well, intimacy. And all the little ways that we sabotage ourselves and our relationships. Ottinger gets bonus points for writing this for 50-plus performers, as well. The bravest play festivals will select this play, and their audience members will reap the benefits for their bravery.

For those rare souls who are completely unfamiliar with the original, this is an excellent primer (and will likely depress you when you discover how unHagemanesque the source material is). For those for whom this is an oft-told tale, Hageman (no surprise to her loyal fans) offers a vibrantly fresh take with some Vitamin Hamlet.
A sure-fire guarantee to brighten your mood no matter the kind of day you've been having. All Hageman's signature wit and sarcasm are resoundingly present. An excellent showcase for youth performers, but performer and audience member alike are certain to share all the fun equally.

Wow. Wow. What a fabulous play!
WYWH offers itself as an antidote to all of those steamy tales of star-crossed lovers separated by time travel, and proves to be the superior choice.
This entire thing really is irresistible - this play had me at Woodrow - and unexpected and yet immediately feels like a classic. It's like TWILIGHT ZONE good -- only Moran goes for heart rather than an ironic, unsettling twist and BOY DOES IT EVER WORK! Absolutely fantastic. Not a single false note.
Grateful to NPX for its ability to put writers like Moran on our radar.

I like this play because it's such a small, intimate, NORMAL look at a woman so renowned for her glamour, wealth and elegance, without sacrificing any of her mystique or her elegance.
For me, it calls to mind Gay Talese's famous profile of Frank Sinatra in Esquire magazine, "Frank Sinatra Has a Cold." It's as much about our reaction to Ms. Kennedy Onassis as it is about her, and how any celebrity - but especially THIS one - permeates our every day lives, and the fact she had her own every day life to lead.
A stunning, stellar, humane piece.

Thank heavens for writers like Ruben, who actively challenge the ways we think about words and their meanings.
Any play by Carbajal is virtually guaranteed to take you to new and unexpected places, and SLEEPWALKING is no exception.
Here, he blurs the lines between playwright and performer, and playwright and audience, and dream and waking reality.
And he does it all in one minute. Inspiring and intimidating his fellow writers, but infinitely more inspiring than intimidating. Carbajal's good at gently and kindly keeping all of us up upon our toes.