Recommended by Donald E. Baker

"The Known Universe" can stand on its own, but do yourself a big favor and read all three plays of "The Second World Trilogy" in order. You will be amply rewarded. I don't use the word "masterpiece" lightly, but that's exactly what Scott Sickles has produced. The plays celebrate love even as humanity faces the consequences of ignoring too many inconvenient truths. The heartbreaking image of a family determined to maintain some semblance of normality while knowing they cannot survive the next few minutes will stay with you forever. I cannot recommend these plays highly enough.

Employees of this nameless company have numbers instead of names, wear uniforms that wipe out all traces of individuality (except, temporarily, on casual shirt Fridays), and are subjected to company meetings on "synergy." They are provided drinks laced with drugs to make their souless jobs tolerable. The work seems like simple data entry but with every click of the "enter" key people die. Some workers can stand it, others cannot. The corporate motto is "what must be done must be done," and what must be done with this wonderfully dark satire is produce it.

"Higher ed has become some kind of capitalist hellscape," Valerie says in this excellent play about the compromises liberal arts professors are called upon to make when which programs survive is determined by cost-benefit analysis. Corrupting academic politics, petty vindictiveness, ethical lapses, blackmail--all kinds of intellectual prostitution are on display, as is the traditional type available at the nearby strip club. Eppich-Harris's well-drawn characters find themselves in soul-sucking workplace situations that may seem all too familiar to people in nearly any profession. Will any of them emerge with their humanity intact? Highly recommended.

I love "what happened next" stories. In this one, a certain beloved children's book character has grown up, although his wardrobe preferences are the same and he still speaks in rhyme. His breakfast food choice is familiar also, and he attempts to serve it to a stranger he met on Grindr. Unfortunately, his high hopes for this assignation are doomed to disappointment. Even so, there's a lot to enjoy in this imaginative short play.

Let's journey back to those thrilling days of yesteryear, growing up gay at midcentury in a small town. Williams pegs it perfectly. The atmosphere of the barbershop on a Saturday morning, discovering your sexuality while ogling the superheroes in the comic books, and learning the painful lesson that the ads at the back of those magazines promised much more than they delivered. The tone is just right, and the script would allow an actor to probe as deeply as he would wish into the character. Delightful!

Frank Sinatra sings, "Regrets, I have a few, but then, again, too few to mention." Well, goody-goody for him. As Scott Sickles reminds us in his touching little memoir, many of us have regrets that haunt us for a lifetime. Many of them, as here, involve ill-timed moments of fear that result in chances not taken or words not spoken. This monologue is totally relatable. Read it and perhaps shed a tear for Scott's regrets and perhaps your own.

One of the best-realized, most disturbing dystopian plays you're ever likely to encounter, with a final twist worthy of "The Twilight Zone." This play would challenge the actors, the designers, and the audience, and it would be well worth the journey and the effort.

What is more dangerous than a horny teenager with a fake i.d.? Harry finds love for the first time in a long while with the much younger Jim. Unfortunately Jim is even younger than Harry realizes--too young--and their affair results in Harry's losing his reputation and, nearly, his freedom. Five years after their breakup they meet again. Can they resume where they left off, or, as in one of Harry's beloved three-hankie classic movies, must they part forever? A memorable, emotionally charged work by Sickles, available from Next Stage Press.

Red, young-ish entertainer, seeks career advice from Scooter, a has-been director twice her age. He is reluctant to help her, and when he does dispense his words of wisdom, she is reluctant to hear him. Their rapid-fire inter-generational sparring uncovers more about their pasts than either one intends. Scooter's live-in office is equipped with an electric train set that dispenses Irish whiskey and participates in card tricks. But do the furnishings also include a "casting couch." Get a copy from Next Stage Press and find out. Highly recommended.

The concept for this hilarious little play is brilliant. What if a "Jew-will-not-replace-us" white supremacist believes he is literally being replaced by a feisty Jewish lady armed with--what else?--a "portable Jewish space laser"? Sometimes the best defense is to hit your opponent in the funny bone and in "The Replacement" Norkin hits his target perfectly. Very highly recommended.