#4. The Overwhelming
By J.T. Rogers
What's fascinating about this play about the Rwandan massacres of the 1990s is how underwhelming it is so much of the time. An American college professor arrives in Kigali to do research for a book, only to find that the doctor he had planned to use as a key source has disappeared. As he encounters various diplomats, servants and vaguely sinister locals, the seeds of the gathering horror begin to emerge. Max Stafford-Clark's steady but alarming production — which made a smooth transfer to off-Broadway from London's National Theatre — is "important" drama without being dutiful.