Recommended by John Minigan

This lovely and very funny play reminds us that sometimes it takes the unfamiliar to let us rediscover our true, joyful selves. The play gives us three crisply drawn characters and a central role whose change from closed and crotchety to open and accepting is completely earned in just a few pages. Laughter, compassion, and hope!

Mox Nox is a fascinating, resonant play, creating a world in which the characters (and audience) confront the consequences of our actions on personal and climate levels. The play also builds a world of isolation that feels particularly resonant. And it is brilliantly theatrical in its use of magic (yes, magic: levitation, disappearing bodies, sleight of hand with cards...) as a storytelling device, woven beautifully into the structure and never distracting from the human story at the play's core. Can't wait to see this one on stage,

Donna Hoke creates a piece that manages to blend the energies of farce, buddy flick, road flick, and quest narrative into a hugely entertaining and satisfying piece about women's friendship. Great roles for all three actors--two very specifically drawn women and a wild, multi-character, chameleon role for a third actor. Fun, funny, and fulfilling!

This is a piece that moves from charming to creepy to surprising in quick, deft turns. Are these two who they seem to be to the outside world? Are they who they tell themselves they are? Are any of us? Completely captivating and thought provoking tale of a maybe-not-quite-so chance encounter that will stay with you.

"The End Is Just the Beginning" captures not only the hilarious awkwardness of what may be the world's worst breakup of a friendship, but also a fear that resonates for all of us: that our tech may betray us and let others know what we really think and feel. Great roles for four actors, and brilliant use of the medium!

Like all the best science fiction, "The Elusive Pursuit..." grabs your attention first with a clear and compelling concept, then brings you into a deeper journey into powerful human issues: how our choices determine our happiness, regrets about paths not taken, the longing for happiness. And fate, in this case, provides a heartfelt and deeply satisfying path forward for its characters. Even when we haven't yet achieved maximum bliss, there's still hope.

J.Lois Diamond's Clare manages to be both sparklingly witty and darkly compelling. It paints a portrait of Clare Hollingworth through an interview with a young journalism student, and the portrait not only shows the facts of Hollingworth's remarkable career and life, but also poses questions of ethics in journalism, the legacy of colonialism, and the question of both professional and personal legacy. Great roles for the performers--would love to see this staged!

David Beardsley has packed twelve days of plot twists into ten hilarious minutes. With a dead Santa, merry mayhem, a revolving door string of Santas, and even a sketchy lawyer named Rudy, this is a noir holiday comedy wrapped with a bow. Pour an eggnog and enjoy, kid.

A brilliant short piece that captures the complexity of life for Indian-Americans after 9/11 (and the over-simplicity and racism of white America's response to that event). It's a piece that, unfortunately, resonates today as much as it did then.

A beautifully wrought piece that moves us from improv to real life and moves us from laughs to deep recognition. As Player really learns to play, to give up control, and enter his "Scene Partner's" reality, they move to genuine empathy and care. Funny, surprising, and heart-rending.