Recommended by Donald E. Baker

A seedy small-town hotel where people go to escape or to disappear; a cast of unique and memorable characters; a uneasy atmosphere; and a twist at the end that is well prepared but still surprising--another terrific play by John Patrick Bray.

Huddled in a basement with the infamous Palm Sunday tornados bearing down on them, a married couple and their unwilling guest confront long-held secrets, self-serving lies, long-standing grievances, and ingrained prejudices. A terrific character study that deserves wide-spread production.

Killing animals for sport is an ethical debate. Killing humans for sport is a sci-fi trope. But killing androids for sport? What if they look and act startlingly human? Do they have feelings? Do they have souls? What if the quarry bears more than a passing resemblance to someone you love? Pynn handles these questions with great skill in this unforgettable play.

This is a superb entry into the world of PTSD, where nightmares, memories, and figments of imagination become as real to the audience as they are to the soldier who was unable to save his brother after a helicopter crash during the Gulf War. This moving play needs to be read and produced. An eye-opening masterwork.

One of the revelations of playwrighting is discovering that audiences/readers find in your work things you never intended. In this play, Claude the playwright thinks he's written a drama, Sid the producer thinks he's reading a comedy. This short account of their discussion has a big payoff. Terrific work from Williams as always.

A young girl with a disability discovers strength and independence she didn't know she had when she follows a squirrel through a portal into a world only she can save. A large but flexible cast with roles for adults and young people should appeal to community theaters. Designers would have fun with the costume possibilities for animals from various mythologies, which can be as simple or as elaborate as desired. This super fantasy with an uplifting message should delight audiences of all ages. Highly recommended. Get it from Next Stage Press.

Lawrence needs love and Allan needs a needy lover. Lawrence's friends realize it's a recipe for disaster but Lawrence must figure that out for himself. Sickles handles his material--both its emotional and technical content--surehandedly in this relatively early work. The ending is highly satisfying but whether it's a happy one or not is for the audience/reader to decide. It's a great read and would be an even better production. Get it from Next Stage Press.

What a super collection of lgbtq+ plays! There is literally something for everyone in this anthology regardless of age or gender expression. Most notable are several great opportunities for actors who are no longer the buff twenty-year-olds they once were. This alone would set Alterman's work apart from many other plays in the gay genre. Taken together these plays and monologues would be an entertaining and enlightening evening of theater.

If this monologue were a piece of music it would be a rondo. "You're working the checkout ... and you just want to be touched" is the recurring theme that becomes more heartbreaking with each repetition. In between, the clever vignettes the nameless clerk's mind conjures up about his customers become more and more elaborate until reality becomes fantasy--or does it? This play is a great opportunity for actors of any age, gender expression, race, ethnicity, or body type and it will stick with you long after you read it. Great work.

This short monologue is Williams's imagining of a straight homophobe's hateful response to the same-sex relationship so beautifully described in his "A Tree Grows in Longmont." I would like to see it performed as a prologue to a performance of "Longmont," which would then give the lie to everything "Larry" says. Good honest work.