Recommended by Donald E. Baker

Love can endure even after a relationship fails and even, maybe especially, after one partner dies. The tree in question is a memorial to the deceased partner; the play is a sometimes brutally honest examination of the love and the relationship as told through the memories of both men. The characters are so recognizable, the situation so relatable, that you can't help but be moved. Read it, and keep a hanky handy.

After the death of their mother, two brothers have reached the point at which they can recall her with laughter as well as with tears. This is a sweet play about a childhood episode that will become one of those stories shared at every family gathering through the years. I hope when this is produced, the pivotal photograph of mayhem during the baking of a cake is projected for the audience to appreciate. Great job.

Jarred Corona is a fresh new voice who creates worlds--edgy, unsettling, dystopian--that are horrifying reflections of contemporary society. "In Fairness," with its possibly faint echoes of "Pillowman" and "Godot," is the perfect entry into the disturbing alternate realities that inhabit his fertile mind. It would challenge actors, designers, and audience alike and provoke conversation long after the production it so richly deserves. This is a playwright whose career will be a joy to watch unfold.

After burying her husband and enduring the wake, Helen finally has a few moments to take stock of her life and her marriage and to take the first tentative steps toward healing what's left of her family from decades of hurts and misunderstandings. A lovely play made even more so if one also reads the two related monologues, "Broken Glass" and "Final Dispatch." A great opportunity for an older female actor. Highly recommended.

Familiar figures from the New Testament come off the stained glass windows and inhabit the real world in this fresh look at a timeless story. Focusing on the journey of James the Just from resentful younger brother of Jesus to the reluctant head of the fledgling church provides a healthy reminder that these people were human beings before they were saints. Highly recommended.

This is a lovely play about one generation of war-refugee immigrants welcoming the next. It is a great reminder of how sometimes the newly-arrived are more attuned to our country's essence than the folks who have been here longer. Highly recommended.

A half century ago, men of my generation who had low draft numbers faced choices that boiled down to "Vietnam or Canada." The twins in this play each choose differently and their whole family has to come to grips with the ramifications of those choices. Williams captures the atmosphere of the times and of small-town Midwest life perfectly and gives each twin his due in this wonderfully theatrical work. Highly recommended.

Members of my family totally believe cardinals are messengers from deceased loved ones. In this graceful play, mother and gay son discuss whether the hermaphrodite cardinal she has seen could possibly be a miraculous message of new-found, other-worldly tolerance from their homophobic husband and father. It's a lovely piece of work that leaves us with hope for a better mother/son relationship going forward. Highly recommended.

When critics say, "I don't mean to re-write your play," be assured that's just what they have in mind, in this case along with displaying their erudition, one-upping each other, and settling old scores. Theater people will recognize the "mileau" and general audiences will have fun with the hints Williams drops as to the play they're dissecting. (It takes place in North Africa during WWII. I'd be shocked--SHOCKED--if you didn't recognize it.) You must remember this, Williams's delightful "End of Play," next time you want an enjoyable read.

In the 1950's we had no words for ADHD or Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria or Emotional Dysregulation. The first 50 years of my life might have been easier had I a name for these things. Fortunately, the current generation not only has the names but also Scott Sickles' wonderful play that entertains while it informs about all those syndromes of the differently brain-wired. This is an important play well executed. Please produce it far and wide.