Nashville’s perennial playwright Nate Eppler returned to Nashville Rep’s main stage with an original script. His somber but meaty meditation on ideas ripped from modern-day headlines — cops, guns and murdered teens — also probed the invasive and unforgiving nature of the law and media. Under René Copeland’s direction, an impressive cast’s performances were always focused and impassioned, with Nathaniel McIntyre shouldering the lead heroically as an earthy blue-collar Everyman. MARTIN BRADY
Best Original Play
Good Monsters by Nate Eppler
