Recommended by Paul Donnelly

Jim and Julie create fictional alter-egos who inhabit the Wild West as a way of coping with the pain of Jim's current life. Their struggle is poignant, but not without humor. Julie is the kind of good friend every child in crisis deserves. This is a well-crafted and moving exploration of the way children negotiate an unacceptable reality.

A hardboiled detective meets a truly fatal femme fatale to surprising effect, The noirish atmosphere, noirish characters, and noirish dialogue add up to a most engaging entertainment.

This chilling and hypnotic narrative addresses issues of death and dying, of faith and delusion, of the range of the spiritual realm, through such a unique and specific voice. There is also a dash of survivor's guilt which gives the speaker even more depth and makes her encounter with the demon spirit all the more gripping.

A simply lovely look at a key moment in an evolving relationship. A relationship that can even survive the intrusion of a CPAP machine. Isaac and Bascom are grounded with such specific reality that the play feels like eavesdropping on two old friends. As others have said, More please!

Boy do I feel Bren's pain. They are struggling with a long creative drought brought on by their experience of the Pandemic. Caroline tries to get them to reframe their expectations for their art and to jumpstart their creative life. Every creative should have a friend as nurturing and collaborative as Caroline.

The exhausting struggle to feel "queer enough," to feel valid in claiming one's identity, is explored movingly in this clear-eyed and aching monologue.

This lovely and lyrical tribute to her partner also addresses the way the weight of the outer world can press upon a partnership. The speaker's conflict and yearning are palpable and moving. The hope that concludes the piece feels earned and is most heartening.

In this clever riff on Genesis, we see possibilities beyond Adam and Eve and a very different explanation of how the apple came into Eve's possession. We also experience the first man, the first woman, the first sexism and a groaningly dysfunctional celestial bureaucracy. There is a great deal of wit and trenchant observation packed into this short satire.

Clever and sublime, this one minute gem is packed with laughs. The first recitation of the alphabet is one of the wittiest bits I've seen in a while.

Creepy and full of surprises, this gripping horror story plays with many of the tropes of a couple of friends lost in woods who end up at an isolated cabin in the woods. To say anything more would be to give away the twists and turns that make this story so rich and engaging, Give it a listen on Gather by the Ghost Light.