Recommended by Andrew Martineau

“The Tear in the Roof” is a mesmerizingly suspenseful radio play that had a strong naturalistic element coupled with a possible supernatural component to make its audience question what is real and what might be a nightmare. Could it be a combination of both elements at play? The ambiguity of this scenario is what really makes it chilling. What begins as a celebration of love turns nightmarish no matter how we imagine it. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The visceral, transcendent quality of this play perfectly complements the isolation evoked in the Edward Hopper painting. There is a feeling in the beginning of the play that the isolation is broken by an encounter between an older and younger artist, but is it? The sliced cake metaphor is astonishingly original. Beautifully written and heartbreaking.

The description in this origin story of a seemingly cute teddy bear is highly captivating, with a remarkable sense of danger, intrigue and looming horror. I love stories that could work in multiple genres, and I particularly like the thought of this bear standing on a stage, telling their tale with a intense need to share it. I can’t wait to read more, and hopefully one day, see more!

I have had this conversation with students too many times to count. It is believable, concise, and completely on target. Vivian Lermond shows the audience how a student might feel that a bad review or refusal to take another class would be payback for the professor’s supposedly unkind professionalism. I give this short play an A.

Plays about older male friendships seem to be few and far between, so Swenson’s short drama struck the right chords (right as rain, you might say), and offered a glimpse at a friendship that might soon end. The fact that Buster does not know Hank’s situation tells us something about the difficulty for some men to open up to their close friends, even though it is clear that the two men care dearly about each other. There is an amazing moment when Buster plans to put a hand on Hank’s shoulder and doesn’t. Poignant and breathtaking.

This is a heartbreaking play about the nature of respect, courage and pity in the face of death. There is a meta-theatrical element to this play in which the actual audience would be confronted with their own expectations of art and how to show their appreciation of it. Why do we applaud a performer? Is it for the artist, for ourselves and others’ expectations of us? Should we show pity to an artist who is struggling to achieve and relive their glory? Beautifully told in a highly theatrical way. I would love to see this performed!

This play was so startling that I read it through twice to make sure I got the details straight. I had. If you’re a parent of teens like I am, this play will haunt you, even if you don’t know what TicTok challenges are all about. The trio of teens confessing their troubled thoughts and actions are simply looking for love, but their poor judgment keeps them from going about it in a way that will fulfill their needs. The final monologue is shocking and brilliantly conceived. Amazing play!

A series of plays based on the twelve days of Christmas gifts is such a novel idea, and writing about swans in Paris at Christmas is so picturesque and lovely. I love the theme of change vs. tradition as the couple on the brink of separation discusses the restoration of Notre Dame. Christmas allows us to reflect on the traditions that are the most culturally significant to us, and the relationships that are worth keeping. A wonderful Christmas play!

WEBBER is a very funny play! I loved the absurdity of an imaginary bird vomiting onstage, but aside from the consistent humor, Surovsky touches on the transitory pursuit of dreams and the sometimes daunting task of putting a roof over one’s head, especially for a creative artist who writes unrewarding jingles. The opening jingle is very funny and I would love to hear it with music. I really enjoyed it!

I love how Suzanne Bronson plays with form in this gentle exploration of a flirtatious first meeting at an art gallery between two creative people. Both characters are written gender neutral, and I tried to imagine whether it mattered what the different genders were or if might play differently with different combinations of genders and it honestly didn’t matter to me. Love is love. I also liked the breaking of the fourth wall at times. Wonderful how form impacts characterization in this charming two hander.