The Kilroys: "We Make Trouble. And Plays." "When I look at the list of women and nonbinary writers included in this volume, many of whom I have mentored or taught, it is a beautiful reminder that we are a community to be reckoned with, and that there is an abundance of vital narratives awaiting a larger audience. While there remains a great deal of work to be done to reach racial and gender equity in the theater, the powerful and provocative writing presented here is part of the inciting incident that will no doubt shake up the status quo." —Lynn Nottage, from her Foreword The Kilroys are back with a new collection of 67 monologues and scenes by women and nonbinary playwrights. This collection includes a monologue or scene from each play from the 2016 and 2017 editions of The List.

"The superheroines of the theater are back—and better and bolder than ever."— Backstage "These plays have been developed and vetted for artistic excellence; they just happen to possess the added bonus of representing a voice that's currently being underproduced. It's part of a larger movement to say: There's an embarrassment of riches here."— Sheila Callaghan for the Kilroys Not your typical book of monologues, this new collection embodies the mission of the Kilroys, an advocacy group founded in 2013 to raise awareness for the underutilized work of female and trans* playwrights. The collection is comprised of ninety-nine monologues, each from a different play off "The List" from 2014 and 2015, featuring the most unproduced (or under-produced), yet highest-recommended, plays by women in the United States. The monologues selected for this volume serve to highlight the talents of these writers in a wide array of pieces that vary in genre, style, and gender. As it says on their website, the Kilroys "Make Trouble and Plays." The Kilroys are a gang of playwrights and producers in Los Angeles, California, who advocate for the visibility of women playwrights in theatre. Founded in 2013, the Kilroys are named after the iconic graffiti tag "Kilroy Was Here" that was first left by WWII soldiers in unexpected places, a playfully subversive way of making their presence known. The members include Zakiyyah Alexander, Bekah Brunstetter, Sheila Callaghan, Carla Ching, Annah Feinberg, Sarah Gubbins, Laura Jacqmin, Joy Meads, Kelly Miller, Meg Miroshnik, Daria Polatin, Tanya Saracho, and Marisa Wegrzyn.

It’s the nineties and in Lagos, Nigeria, the “Nollywood” film industry is exploding. Ayamma dreams of leaving her job at her parents’ travel agency and becoming a star. When she auditions for a new film by Nigeria’s hottest director, tension flares with his former leading lady—as sparks fly with Nollywood’s biggest heartthrob

"Devil in Ohio kept me up until 3 a.m. with the lights on–in a good way. It’s a haunting thriller for readers who like fear, humor, and heart in one package."—Meredith Goldstein, advice columnist and feature reporter for The Boston Globe, author of upcoming YA novel Chemistry Lessons. "Gripping, urgent and addictive, Devil in Ohio balances the dark exploration of cults with a compelling and often humorous take on teen social dynamics. This is the debut you won’t want to miss."—Aditi Khorana, author of critically acclaimed The Library of Fates and Mirror in the Sky When fifteen-year-old Jules Mathis comes home from school to find a strange girl sitting in her kitchen, her psychiatrist mother reveals that Mae is one of her patients at the hospital and will be staying with their family for a few days. But soon Mae is wearing Jules’s clothes, sleeping in her bedroom, edging her out of her position on the school paper, and flirting with Jules’s crush. And Mae has no intention of leaving. Then things get weird. Jules walks in on a half-dressed Mae, startled to see: a pentagram carved into Mae’s back. Jules pieces together clues and discovers that Mae is a survivor of the strange cult that’s embedded in a nearby town. And the cult will stop at nothing to get Mae back.

Combining West African folklore and contemporary American culture, If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must be a Muhfucka follows four teenage girls as they grapple with societal definitions of beauty. In the fictional setting of Affreakah-Amirrorkah, the four young women - Kaya, Massassi, Adama and Akim - are given an opportunity to live in a society where their individual beauty can reign supreme. But this opportunity comes at a dangerous cost. Tori Sampson's hilariously provocative play doesn't ask the question "How much is beauty worth?" but rather, "Why are so many willing to pay its price?"

A new comedy by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Ruined.

When that baby's born . . . your life ceases being your life. That child owns every single one of your actions. Every breath of your body. Every dream that you ever had, Mrs. Top Two Percent, those dreams are sucked out of you and poured into the soul of that child. It's hard to pull yourself up by your bootstraps in this economy-Sue should know. It's harder when you've got kids, even whip-smart, talented ones like Judy. Sue has big dreams for both her basement beauty shop and her daughter, who's anxiously waiting for a letter from Berkeley that could change her life. Armed with tough love, combative humor and an uncompromising work ethic, Sue is struggling to balance her own livelihood and Judy's future. A heartfelt play about the true cost of dreams. American Beauty Shop received its world premiere at Chicago Dramatists in April 2016, having received readings at Steppenwolf, Florida Studio Theatre, Steep Theatre, Illinois Shakespeare Festival and Chicago Dramatists.