Recommended by Mark Loewenstern

An excellent and useful play which maps for us how toxic people slip past our defenses, and burrow into our lives. It is leavened with Sickles's signature wit, not the ostentatious, superficial kind, but rather the wise wit that comes from knowing well one's friends and enemies, and oneself. It's the wit that spots and understands all the shades of pain and hope, and calls them out that we may share them. Hairdresser on Fire then sticks the landing, leaving us with the kind of tale that should be taught in high school health classes.

Was fortunate to see a production of this play earlier this year. Like a Canterbury Tales or Decameron, this play gives a multi-faceted view of the world, where each tale builds on the ones that came before, widening and deepening our understanding. Garcia then goes a step further, as the tales influence the people who hear them, impacting the journey they are on. Great stuff. Should be produced again.

Not just a wonderful, powerful one-minute play, but a useful blueprint for a sorely needed bit of empathy the world needs more of.

Elegantly moving and universal. What could be more relatable than the relationships Gonzalez explores here? The pains and fears of the child, parent, husband, wife are delved to a surprising depth, and then the playwright confidently lands us with a viscerally satisfying ending. Highly recommend.

And just like that, the princes in the Tower unpack Richard III for us and it hits us hard, all in the space of two pages. This is a mighty little play, and many's the Shakespeare fan that would be well rewarded by taking two minutes to read or watch it.

This is a fun, easy-to-produce play that explores the physical space of a theater in a unique and interesting way. That by itself makes it worthy, but Cross gives us explorers who are quirky good company, a fresh twist on the stock scientist character. "The Time is Out of Joint" is a treat for physicists and theater majors alike! Would love to see it produced.

A hilarious little farce. It's the worst nightmare of every rebel rocker become frighteningly and specifically real and just when you think it can't get any more funny, it pulls more rabbits out of its hat.

Saw a Zoom reading of this play and it moved like it was on the Autobahn with hungry predators nipping at its heels. A fun and scary ride with a gut punch that will make your audience sit up, lean forward, laugh, and sigh. Fine work.

Oubliette is several different fresh and valuable things all at once: It is a story about love that is not a "love story." It is a clarifying guide to an under-explored corner of mental health. It is a theatrical and relatable demonstration of how we fight with our demons. Sickles shows us what it means to be a prisoner who can still take comfort in seeing the stars shine in the heavens above his pit. Plum roles for actors. A moving and useful experience for the audience.

A beautiful ensemble play, accessible and moving. At its center is an ordinary person who sacrifices much because she has decided that the difficult thing is the right thing to do. It's easy for us to look back to the dawn of AIDS and see the need for someone like the heroine Joan, but Femia throws us into the maelstrom of those days so we may appreciate how and why the helpless were abandoned. It's a remarkable exploration of that moment in time, and is relevant to any time when there is struggle between fear and compassion. Wonderful work.