Recommended by Donald E. Baker

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.

So. The ghost of Scrooge has pedantic opinions about two Christmas carols--the Dickens book that misrepresents him (he says) and the song that misrepresents Good King(?) Wenceslaus--and he isn't shy about voicing them to members of a choir attempting unsuccessfully to make coherent presentations of songs on Zoom. The carols are parodies, by the way. It would be a wacky addition to any online holiday festival and would be fun to stage as well, maybe on a "Hollywood Squares" sort of set.

Sloane and Gwyn bring their troubled relationship into a troubled house, one with its own secrets and its own malevolent agenda. Everything is strange, including the people of the town and, especially, the mysterious neighbor. And the ailing grandmother--is she really in that bedroom? And what is really happening in the basement? And is Sloane completely going off the rails? And a box of dog teeth? Really? McCarthy skillfully lets the tension build, all the time leaving us desperate to figure out what exactly is at work, until the chaotic paranormal denouement. Wonderfully scary stuff from beginning to end.

I heard this play performed beautifully on the Gather by the Ghost Light podcast. Michael is going gently into that dark night with only a few questions for Death as they approach their inevitable union. The tremendous gift the play gives us is the hope that a loving touch may be the last thing we feel as the darkness descends. Scott Sickles is a treasure.

This is a perfect little satire laying bare the hypocrisy of members of the so-called "Pro-Life" movement. The unwillingness of some people to take full responsibility for what they voted for, and, at least in the case of the characters in this play, what they are willing to do when they are assured the neighbors won't find out are appalling. Great and timely work.

We don't know exactly what B did to endanger their relationship with A, and we don't have to. They know, and their rapid-fire, overlapping dialogue, full of hurt and recrimination and defensiveness, will grab an audience and leave them breathless--and discussing the play all the way home from the theater. Gripping work.

For the chronically depressed, like Em in this play, hope may be just as cruel as all the other ills Pandora released upon the world. But her friend Cal is savvy enough to offer hope in doses small enough that Em might be able to grasp it. Sometimes. Maybe. Special donuts to be eaten on a cold bench on a certain day. A invitation to a game of boggle. Even reluctant acceptance of a date for "Seussical the Musical." The play is full of empathy, great lines, and, yes, hope. Affecting work.

I love this brilliant little play skewering certain ideas floating around in the zeitgeist, most notably in Florida but elsewhere as well. Williams deftly teases the reader so that it takes some little time to figure out exactly what contraband the two people on the bench are exchanging, but then the play moves into high gear and scatters chuckles aplenty in its wake. Funny without descending into silliness, this is parody with a light, though no less effective, touch. Really very nicely done.

Small towns are suspicious of change, and here they are especially suspicious of Hilda, the stranger one of their boys married before he went off to war. Why did her mother-in-law bypass her own sons give Hilda the family diner? Why is Hilda so attentive to the male customers? And when her husband returns from the war only to mysteriously sicken and die, just what was in those casseroles Hilda was feeding him? By the end, you may think every question has been answered, but a brilliant last sentence will leave you wondering. Terrific and engaging work!

A hustler, rejected by his family and homeless, has two dreams: a hot shower and enough money for a bus ticket out of town. He attempts to maintain some dignity and control over his situation by setting forth strict ground rules and an excruciatingly detailed price list for his services. It would be heartbreaking to hear live. Another exceptional work by a master of monologues.