Recommended by Donna Latham

Beaver Cleaver meets the NRA. Cern's brisk, biting dark-dark comedy satirizes the horrors of school shootings. Daughter, wearing her favorite pink dress, makes the ultimate patriotic sacrifice, and her family rejoices at the news. A powerful absurdist piece that invites intriguing staging possibilities.

Powerful and chilling. Dan Taube has created a play that’s urgent and theatrical. I love the use of direct address to create an unflinching, wrenching concert piece that breaks through our numbness and appeals to our humanity.

I’d love to see this tender love story on stage. Playwright Jacquelyn Floyd-Priskorn has created a bittersweet gem that's at once gentle and intimate, funny and theatrical. Set design, staging, and physical comedy possibilities are delicious. TJ and Kendra put in the physical and emotional work to repair a rough patch in their marriage; TJ’s mini henge makes a monumental task more manageable. The ending took me from a sweet, “Aww” to a laugh-out-loud with a perfect pay-off.

The stunning opening launches a gripping and theatrical horror play that kept me on the edge of my seat. Darkly comic moments and riveting monologues create an intense, haunting exploration of trauma. Two gifted actors will kill in these powerful roles.

A speedy and hilarious two-hander that barrels down the tracks with escalating misunderstandings until its laugh-out-loud conclusion. Perfect for short-play festivals!

This charming twist on Cinderella from the young prince's POV is funny, authentic, and relatable. When Cinderella makes her hasty departure, the clumsy prince accidentally tromps on the glass slipper left behind. But he's determined to find hope in the shards. A delightful comic spin for a young actor.

A beautifully inventive, resonant dark comedy with poignant messages about Earth and the timelessness of storytelling. Exciting expandable possibilities and delicious characters create a piece that’s truly for all ages. I love it!

John Mabey’s gripping, taut drama begins in media res. Although we don’t know the precise circumstances that brought two radically different characters together, but we can imagine their encounter. The short play is layered and nuanced and powerfully explores fleeting moments of connection and humanity. A balm for the soul.

I’d love to see this chilling exploration of Autumn’s psyche. A powerfully theatrical ensemble piece about mental health, domestic violence, and childhood sexual abuse. Autumn’s trauma-bonded to her abusive boyfriend. He lures her with love-bombing and escalates abuse: Isolation from her flawed but devoted friend Kasey, beatings, rape, a knife to her throat. Autumn murders her abuser in self-defense. Manifestations of coping mechanisms, a trio of characters (excellent roles for women), swoop to her aid. Autumn discovers the long-secret story of her childhood abuse and truth of her mother’s weakness for monstrous men with beautiful eyes.

Gripping and theatrical. This haunting Southern Gothic play’s desperate outliers break your heart. I love the audacious hope in pre-teen Rudolph’s aching need to fulfill dreams of becoming the first Merman in an underwater show, as he struggles to overcome loss and grief and discover what actually occurred the night his mother died. The trailer park setting at the edge of a canal, elements of magical realism, and richly drawn characters offer delicious staging possibilities and multi-generational casting opportunities.