Recommended by Ian Thal

The three speaking characters in Treyton Blackburn's TUGBOAT, Spectacles, Necktie, and Watch, are entertaining in how they react to both their tragicomic boat ride and each other, as they are ferried along a journey that evokes absurdism, Greek mythology, Noh theater, American musicals, old cartoons, and silent comedy. The play practically invites its audience to imagine its possible meaning.

The saccharine presentation style of 1950s Cold War era educational films that told the nation's youth to do in case a nuclear war interrupts their class time, is often the subject of ironic nostalgia. In this morbid satire Meg Wiles juxtaposes this with the advice given to twenty-first century children on what to do in case an active shooter situation comes to their school. Soon Little Betty is breaking the fourth wall and talking back to the narrator in an unladylike manner!

A noise complaint leads Inspector Harris to the flat of Beverly, a sex worker, with the thought that she might have information on the recent murder of five men "known to frequent the houses of ill repute" and quite possibly, why Jack-the-Ripper's killing spree appears to have ended the previous month. Christopher Soucy's witty dialogue is an exercise in verbal sparring laced with ribald innuendo, amateur lawyering, and morbid humor.

Doug: Uptight, petty and with somewhere else to be, finds himself in a broken elevator with his neighbor, Kim, an injured parkour and vaping enthusiast. Of course they start pressing each other's buttons, even as the elevator's control panel doesn't work. Yet one of them has a scheme that will get them both downstairs!

Rex McGregor's BEAUTY STORE SABOTEUR is a satirical take on the the clash of values between mainstream consumer culture and counter-culture, finding comedy in the contrast between Nicole, whose business is making her customers feel better about themselves, and Tess, an idealistic advocate of "natural beauty." McGregor has crafted this two-hander so that each character is the protagonist in her own story, and ends a clever coda about a small store standing up to big business!

John Patrick Bray gives us a story that is simultaneously weird and believable with A NEW LEVEL OF INTIMACY, a charming slice-of-life romantic comedy about how a single mom and her new paramour cope with a particularly embarrassing infestation of tiny parasitic insects, and deepen their bonds. There's great potential to mine the juxtaposition of sensuality and disgust for comedy on stage.

Heyman's SENSORIES plays with its protagonist's perception of her own memories and reality, while also playing with the audience's perception of the audio drama medium and what counts as "real" within its fictitious world. I found myself thinking about the science-fiction writer Alfred Bester, whose classic short stories (and radio plays) similarly played with his perceptions of readers and listeners.

With AFTERLIFE, Iyna Caruso recounts an episode from the history of science: How what was in 1969 the latest innovation in diagnostic medicine revolutionized archeology and museum conservation. But what makes this a richly rendered is how Caruso describes the institutions where research is done, and the ethical and spiritual values and New York neighborhoods and sense of wonder that shaped and motivated the investigators, and make discovery possible.

Nick and Georgia think they are ready to explore some of their sexual fantasies at what is euphemistically called "a sensual oasis". But are they really ready to do more than watch? This romantic comedy explores kink, jealousy and consent with sex-positivity, and leaves ample room for both theater artists and theater audiences to exercise their imagination.

A hilarious genre parody of gothic fiction that retains a 21st century satirical edge: Bricked-up chambers, servants with consumption, solitary diarists, representatives of propriety, and self-styled philosophers, give way to dubious employment offers; would-be influencers can't write and are celebrities only in their own head; and bored hunting dogs that would enjoy finally catching themselves a moor-hen.