Royal Festival Haul
Our picks from the sixteen finalists—chosen from more than 1,000 submissions— in the Summer Play Festival at Theatre Row ($10; for tickets, call 212-279-4200).

1. Courting Vampires
Laura Schellhardt’s story of a young woman who vows to exact revenge on the man who infected her sister with a fatal disease. Directed by Lou Jacob.
• 7/5-7/10

2. Tempodyssey
Dan Dietz’s comedic tale of Genny, a smart and efficient temp who’s the darling of her workplace except for one thing—she believes she’s the Goddess of Death.
• 7/5-7/10

3. Split Wide Open
Christina Gorman explores Muslim culture in a play about an Albanian bride rumored to have been raped by a gang of Christian soldiers, and the effects of that accusation on her impending marriage.
• 7/19-7/24

Summer Cool
Suggested viewing from the Soho Think Tank's Ice Factory summer festival, beginning July 6 at the Ohio Theatre. ($15; 212-868-4444 for tickets.)

1. The Position
A new play by Kevin Doyle for the Sponsored by Nobody theater company, incorporating spoken word and dance, in which six men wait on line to be interviewed for a corporate job.
• 7/13-7/16

2. Psyche
Deborah Wallace's epic musical about James Barry, a surgeon and soldier born in 1796 who fought duels and treated lepers, and was also a woman.
• 7/27-7/30

3. Major Bang
The Foundry Theatre's entertaining new work about a fictional man who builds a nuclear reactor in his backyard, directed by Paul Lazar.
• 8/3-8/6

Movin’ On Up
This season’s Second Stage Theatre Uptown series brings in two original works from emerging playwrights.

1. Swimming in the Shallows
The New York premiere of Adam Bock’s quirky comedy, the story of a man who finds love at an aquarium, stars Logan Marshall-Green (The O.C.) and Rosemarie DeWitt (Danny and the Deep Blue Sea) and is directed by Trip Cullman.
• McGinn/Cazale Theatre, 2162 Broadway, nr. 76th St., fourth fl., 212-239-6200. 6/21-7/17.

2. The Dear Boy
An English teacher on the verge of retirement questions both the life he chose and the life he gave up, in Dan O’Brien’s world-premiere work, directed by Michael John Garcés (The Triple Happiness).
• McGinn/Cazale Theatre, 2162 Broadway, nr. 76th St., fourth fl., 212-239-6200. 8/1-8/27.