In 1943, Los Angeles exploded in the infamous Zoot Suit riots, provoked by the Sleepy Lagoon murder case that railroaded young Chicano gang members who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Valdez masterfully synthesizes fact and fiction, using the case to examine Chicano Zoot Suit culture of the '40s, prejudices, the role of the media in the judicial system, and Latino family culture.

In this recent Off-Broadway hit, a group of old friends find themselves at Harlem's Ortiz Funeral Home to mourn the death of a beloved nun from their childhood. As they bounce off of each other with old hurts and the harsh realities of grown-up life, a murder mystery (and a few lives) begins to unravel. Hilarious, raunchy, and ultimately very touching, Stephen Adly Guirgis is a new voice to be celebrated.

In the rigid theocracy of Salem, Massachusetts, rumors that women are practicing witchcraft galvanize the town. In the ruthlessness of the prosecutors and the eagerness of neighbor to testify against neighbor, The Crucible mirrors the anti-Communist hysteria in the 1950s.

Academy Award-winner Athol Fugard, one of theatre's most acclaimed playwrights, finds humor and heartbreak in the friendship of Harold, a 17-year-old white boy in 1950s South Africa, and the two middle-aged black servants who raised him. Racism unexpectedly shatters Harold's childhood and friendships in this absorbing, affecting coming-of-age play. The play, initially banned from production in South Africa, is a Drama Desk Award winner for Outstanding New Play.

This timeless comedy of manners is considered one of Molière's most probing and mature works. While it's still an exemplar of 17th century farce, Molière went beyond his usual comic inventiveness to create a world of rich, complex characters, especially in the cynical title character Alceste, played here by the Tony Award-winning actor Brian Bedford.