Recommended by Donald E. Baker

What do superheroes do at home when they aren't out saving their city, the world, or the universe? According to Dan West, they do what simpler folk do. They feed the cat, order Thai food, and do laundry. When Sam and Chase, heretofore merely two guys sharing rent, reveal to each other their respective superhero side hustles, the mutual understanding and support that results deepens their relationship and opens up possibilities going forward. Humane and satisfying work.

In this lovely little play, Scott Sickles gives us three mature people within whom love may be hibernating but there is still a hope of its reawakening. They are totally relatable as they engage in the sort of relaxed banter longtime friends comfortably toss back and forth. It is a most satisfying, heartwarming piece. Highly recommended.

Brethren and sistren, prepare thyselves to meet Jesus, Peter, and Paul as thou've never seen them before. The gospel according to Busser is an hilarious concoction wherein our scribe takes biblical blasphemy and scriptural satire to new heights--or depths according to thy point of view--and serves it up in a potful of puns and askew allusions. It is, verily, a giggle fest, so if thou hast an appetite for wicked fun, then thou shouldst surely read it.

If you read this play(let) carefully, Houk's characters will give you the necessary clues about what's actually going on--although at least three of the young men don't themselves know. But even so, you may not be fully prepared for the devastating last lines. I am a huge fan of Houk's work, and this play ranks among his best. There are so many lines to savor. Read it, laugh, and weep.

A job applicant finds that the questions at his interview for a secret and highly "sensitive" job are exceedingly provocative and intrusive ("boxers or briefs" is the LEAST invasive). The increasingly agitated applicant has no idea what is going on. The audience may think they know, but then Williams throws in a sly twist that could not be more stunning. The two actors will have a great deal of fun with this delightful little comedy.

Bradley is ashamed of what he did and who he was a generation earlier, and his refusal to satisfy his girlfriend Jessica's curiosity about that part of his past threatens their relationship. But he does reveal his innermost secrets to a stranger, Enoch, a college student he encounters sleeping in a booth of the diner Bradley himself used to frequent. Their conversation gives Bradley the courage he needs open himself to Jessica. As always, here Sickles gives us memorable characters and dialogue.

Morey Norkin has created two wonderful comic pigeons in Midget and Fidget. Their repartee is flawless and so is their aim whenever a fancy car happens to drive beneath their roosting wire.(Yes, as we always suspected, they do it intentionally.) And I have never encountered a more perfect last word in any play. Treat yourself to this one.

Philip Middleton Williams may be the most humane playwright I know. Here he tackles a fraught issue like immigration without stridency or polemics and does it with three characters we end up liking. Those who know Williams's "Sugar Ridge Rag" will recognize Pete, who moved to Canada during Vietnam. Here the hunted "illegal" is Pete's husband Gordie and the pseudo-ICE agent who tracks him down is Benjie. All three are drawn with care and empathy, growth happens, and new relationships form. Bravo!

Many plays have been written about family secrets being revealed at a funeral. This is the first one I've read in which one big secret is immortalized pictorially on the decedent's headstone. "Graven Image" is hilarious pure (well, not so pure) and simple. Have fun reading it.

So hear me out. This is a comedy. About a serial killer. In which a prop from Hello Kitty plays a prominent part. When Brenda and Catherine realize Gerald wants them both dead, they decide to work together to get him before he gets them. The comedy comes from great dialogue and also from physical business that in the hands of good comedic actors will have audiences roaring. A neat concept very well executed.