Recommended by Donald E. Baker

So. Beneath the Venusian atmosphere of carbon dioxide clouds, beneath the planet's surface, is a network of community theaters. Who knew? Just one problem. All the males on the planet have been extinct for millennia, leaving the surviving females to produce an unending repertoire of "Steel Magnolias." So they import an earthling male, the most laid-back earthling male one could ever hope to find. He has no acting experience, but the ladies are willing to cast him in anything just to get a little theatrical variety. And that's all they want from him. It's hilarious.

Who gave Maxwell Edison
A taste of his own medicine
By killing him with his own
Silver hammer?
It's left to John Pie,
The pie-eyed P.I.
To decide who should go
To the slammer.

Actually, who should be going to the slammer are the two playwriting scoundrels who have imposed yet another lyric-ridden noir upon an unsuspecting public. This time they have raided the lyrics of the Beatles, ABBA, Queen, and who knows how many other pop artists, to provide themselves with embarrassingly funny, punny dialogue. Kidding. This is the voodoo they do so well and it's hilarious.

Who gave Maxwell Edison
A taste of his own medicine
By killing him with his own
Silver hammer?
It's left to John Pie,
The pie-eyed P.I.
To decide who should go
To the slammer.

Actually, who should be going to the slammer are the two playwriting scoundrels who have imposed yet another lyric-ridden noir upon an unsuspecting public. This time they have raided the lyrics of the Beatles, ABBA, Queen, and who knows how many other pop artists, to provide themselves with embarrassingly funny, punny dialogue. Kidding. This is the voodoo they do so well and it's hilarious.

A marvelously, well, batty take on a vampire story with a neat twist at the end. It would be welcome comic relief among other more scary plays at any Halloween festival.

Over time, only Bobby Ray maintains the flaming passion with which his and Flora's love affair began. Even after a near-fatal heart attack he still yearns to see the woman who abandoned him and his daughter. In flashbacks and with inspired staging we watch the decline and fall of their doomed relationship, and as the play nears its end we begin to wonder whether Bobby Ray's wish will be granted and the long-absent Flora will show up at his bedside. A sad but well-written play about a failed marriage with great material for actors to work with.

Small towns can harbor big secrets, and small lives can be heroic in their own ways. To the idle passer-by, Edna might appear to be "just" another old woman. But as Jan Probst takes us back in time to reveal significant secrets, incidents, and conversations in her long lifetime--involving war, alcoholism, the lesbianism of a best friend--we discover a woman who lived with enviable integrity and fidelity. An truly excellent character study.

You are a woman who values her own integrity and talent, but society--and your mother--insist you must marry. Inconveniently, your artist lover is already married, so the most convenient solution is to enter into a marriage of convenience with the artist's homosexual brother. In "Bouquet of Violets" Deb Cole has given us an impressive view into the world of the Impressionists in nineteenth century Paris and the life of a woman determined to be as independent as possible and become a recognized artist in her own right.

Depression. An insidious and formidable enemy that sneers at our defenses, creeping stealthily past them before we become aware of the imminent threat. This is a powerful and poetic monologue by someone who has recognized the attack and is determined to fight back. It will be especially meaningful to anyone who has experienced it or had to cope with a love one's going through it. And it provides a wonderful opportunity for an actor able to harness and embody its emotional depths.

A small French village lost to time and map makers mourns the death of its communal baker. Who will make the baguettes and the pain au choclolat so essential to French culture? They advertise for a replacement, but the fellow who shows up wants to do things his way rather than how they've always been done. Mon dieu! It was great fun to be a part of this charming and amusing play in our weekly playwrights' group.

Many people have fraught relationships with coffee. Here Rachel Feeny-Williams imagines one of them taking that relationship, where else?, to a television talk show. Think Claire and Coffee arguing it out ala Jerry Springer or Dr. Phil. As always with Rachel's more weird concepts, it results in hilarious theater.