Recommended by Donald E. Baker

Where this mother and her little girl are it's always raining, and when we discover why, the revelation breaks our hearts. Bring a hanky for this devastating, well-wrought little play.

The very much alive ghosts of our past can come back to haunt us with a gun in their hands. In this British crime drama, the police experience a frustrating search for a thief with a distinctive m.o. only find one of them has a personal relationship with their quarry. It's another absorbing play from Rachel Feeny-Williams featuring well-rounded relationships among all the characters, some of whom don't like each other very much. Well done!

When Katherine starts to clean out her deceased grandmother's house, she discovers an ever-escalating chain of gobsmacking surprises about what sort of woman she was and the amazingly wild life she apparently led. It's all very overwhelming--until the wonderful twist at the end. A very neat and funny comedy.

Doug hates birds for the mess they make on his balcony. Kim is responsible for the mess because she feeds and encourages them. Getting no cooperation from her, he threatens to appeal for help from their apartment complex's governing board. Where will Board President Marion's sympathies lie in the case of man v. sparrows? Read this delicious little comedy and find out!

Albert and his wife and Carolyn and her husbands were next-door neighbors and the best of friends. Now Albert is a widower and Carolyn is a widow. Without their spouses, their relationship is awkward, to the extent that a new fence appears separating their yards. How do they adjust to their new reality going forward? Another lovely play from the WRINKLE RANCH collection by Debra A. Cole. (Spoiler alert!, there's a happy ending.)

A beautifully wrought play about an elderly woman with aphasia and a troubled teenager on the autism spectrum. The roles will demand much from the two actors portraying them, but the payoff will be so worth it. "Glue and Flea" is Millie's first garbled attempt at saying "you and me," and in the course of a short ten minutes there is hope that their relationship will indeed move from mutual suspicion and anger to a "you and me" going forward. Nicely done.

A classic Hollywood mystery in which a gossip columnist infiltrates a party full of actors, each of whom fears she is ready to reveal their deepest secrets. So the columnist is murdered. Right? Wrong. But then, why would someone kill the starlet and try to kill the studio head? The answer lies in a fascinating but little-known historical conspiracy. Everyone involved will have fun with this one, particularly the cast, the costumer, and the props master--and, most assuredly, the audience. Available from Next Stage Press.

Santa has gone missing and the reindeer fear the worst. So of course they get out a Ouija Board in an attempt to contact his departed spirit. Of COURSE!( I can't wait to see what a director does with Dana Hall's stage direction that they all put their hooves on the planchette.) Removing a hoof could lead to dire consequences, but while overcome with emotion one does just that. What happens? And is Santa really gone for good? Read this weird, offbeat, and delightful holiday play and find out.

We think of the seasons and holidays of the year as having characteristics, but who knew they were real personages with real and sometimes rebellious personalities? Yes, there is a manager attempting to keep them in line but her efforts only lead to frustration for her and great amusement for the audience. Everyone involved in a production of this should have a great time, not only the actors but the designers as well. Rachel Feeny-Williams's creative mind is a strange and wonderful place.

Dan attempts to tone down his wife Stella's hyperbole-filled draft of their annual holiday newsletter. He is only partly successful but as audience we're cheering him on. Then we discover why Stella is determined that this particular newsletter should be as perfectly perfect as possible. A delightful comedy about relationships that provides an unexpectedly poignant ending. Lovely.