Recommended by Donald E. Baker

At an all-boys boarding school, the weak, the different, the perceived gay became targets. Jeff survived by finding a protector, staying stoned, and pretending not to be who he was. Richard broke under the bullying and lives with PTSD-like nightmares. Now both have returned to the school to teach. But why? To exorcise their demons or to embrace them? They seek to answer that question in this gripping and engaging drama of memory and survival. Audiences need to see this play.

This is a brilliant contemporary political satire cleverly disguised as a Shakespearesque history play. Nero is portrayed as a raging egomaniac surrounded by sycophants seeking either to curtail or to profit from his excesses. Sound vaguely familiar? There are no exact parallels to recent events but there are many echoes, some faint, others blaring: "I am untouchable. I could cut throats in the street and no one would arraign me." Well done!

The small town in this play has no fences but it sure has boundaries, so when two women decide they want to own a junk yard, everyone conspires to thwart such an inappropriate notion. I was raised in a small Indiana town, and Jan Probst has perfectly captured, without resorting to caricature, the cadences and concerns of my parents' generation, especially the skillful wielding of collective memory to heal or to hurt as the occasion demands. It's a rich portrayal that would be a tour de force for a versatile actress. Brava!

June Havoc's long distinguished career as a stage and screen actress was eclipsed by Baby June, the child vaudevillian portrayed in "Gypsy." She fights to prevent that from happening and to be remembered on her own terms in this marvelous play. The personalities onstage are strong adversaries. The clever dialogue is sprinkled with a word here or there that reminds you of the musical, but after reading this I'll never see "Gypsy" the same way again. I want to see a double-bill. "Fable" at a matinee, "Gypsy" in the evening. It'd be swell. It'd be great.

I suspect the most chilling words I'll read all year are "It's just blood." We are raising a generation for whom mass shootings are just another ordinary mundane part of everyday life. This play about two women--one older, one younger--dealing with the aftermath of an atrocity at the public library is very short but very powerful. Please perform it everywhere.

Here is the alternative United States so many of our fellow citizens seem to want. Immigrants, legal or not, are deported. There is a wall on both borders. Same-sex marriage is banned and any sexual liaison for other than procreations is illegal. Lack of church attendance is an indication of subversive tendencies. Enter three adults with secrets and two children who can't keep them. The situation is fraught with danger and the ending will leave you gobsmacked. Very highly recommended.

Tables are turned and lines are crossed in this edgy play about a man discovering wants and needs he never knew he had. The three characters are memorable, and a fourth who never appears but dominates much of the action is most intriguing. The script is a master class in how to present eroticism on stage without defaulting to graphic sex. A terrific achievement. Highly recommended.

This play is as sweet as the slice of pie over which Willie and Ida make tentative connection in a "West By God" Virginia truck stop. Both have scars from life and love lived hard, but maybe, just maybe, they can lay the bad memories to rest and find that love is really lovelier the second time around. Vivian Lermond has given us an excellent rendering of real down-to-earth people who would be a joy to see on stage.

If you enjoy the hand-to-head wordplay of old Leslie Nielsen movies, you will love this play. There is also more than a hint of the clever absurdities of Monty Python, down to an open invitation for insertion of a John Cleese silly walk. And if you like a good pun, the script offers plenty of awful ones, which only makes it more delightful. Put this script in the hands of actors with good comedic timing, and the audience will have a rollicking good time.

In high school, two young men, literally from different sides of the tracks, shared something intense. But did the experience really have any meaning? They meet to confront (or not) that question as graduation is about to send them off on completely different paths. Much of the emotion of this excellent, truthful play takes place in the awkward silences of teenagers and would be a terrific challenge for young actors.