Recommended by Donald E. Baker

Many people have fraught relationships with coffee. Here Rachel Feeny-Williams imagines one of them taking that relationship, where else?, to a television talk show. Think Claire and Coffee arguing it out ala Jerry Springer or Dr. Phil. As always with Rachel's more weird concepts, it results in hilarious theater.

The police question a young man when his girlfriend goes missing the night they break up. His parents are convinced their son had nothing to do with her disappearance, but if he didn't, who did? The answer will knock your socks off. Great work.

In our weekly playwright's group I had the honor of attempting to bring this wartime memory of Christopher Plumridge's grandfather to life. This is a lovely little play with great heart that shows one aspect of the war that few people may be aware of. It must have been great to grow up hearing tales like this from the man himself.

So. You're an American woman who discovers through DNA testing that she is the 13th cousin of an historically prominent British lord with a magnificent estate. What do you do? Why, of course you go knock on his door and introduce yourself, whether he wants to meet you or not. But you come with an offer he can't possibly refuse involving a reality TV show. Of course you do. A funny play with great roles for three character actors.

Small towns and families have secrets. In one particular family in one particular small town, one of those secrets is who caused the death of an alcoholic and abusive man. Family members, old friends, and romantic rivals all have opinions about who did it. Rachel Feeny-Williams works out the solution to this mystery in a very satisfying script that keeps you guessing even after you think you've identified the murderer. Very good, intriguing work.

What if you had to successfully complete a survey to be eligible for adulthood? Rachel Feeny-Williams asks that question in this funny little play and then works the situation out to a satisfying ending. It's the kind of quirky thing she does so well. Great fun.

When a young man named Jared shows up in much older Luke's back yard to collect a debt owed by Luke's deceased partner, they find a way to communicate across the generational divide. This is helped by Jared's revelation that he, too, has suffered a loss, that of his father. The dialogue, especially Luke's jaundiced view of the world, sparkles, and the two develop a budding friendship. Williams has an enviable talent for handling relationships, and the result here is a very satisfying short play featuring two guys you'd really like to get to know in person.

How Teresa can go on is beyond me. Within a day her trans daughter and her ultra-conservative father have both killed themselves, and her father took 2,000 people with him. This is a powerful play centering on a devastating monologue for the daughter that would stand on its own as a terrific audition piece for a trans performer. As Scott Sickles often does, here he has produced a play that will stick with you somewhere between your soul and your gut. Read it and weep with pity and anger.

I love it when a writer takes well-known literary characters, keeps them in their accustomed milieu, but totally reimagines their personalities and their relationships. Fenton does that here with the familiar denizens of Neverland, supplemented with a couple of new people of his own devising. The result is a grittier Neverland than Barrie could ever have imagined, and some of the characters we have always loved turn out to be not so lovable. This is super work, forcing us to re-think our previous impressions of Peter, Wendy, Hook, and, especially, Tinker Bell.

A man on the spectrum meeting his childhood bully could go so wrong. In this lovely little play it goes very right. As savory as pizza and as sweet as doughnuts, the dialogue gives both actors a lot to delve into. Great work.