Recommended by Susan Middaugh

The opening and the rest of this play will snap your head and make you pay attention. Distinctive voices, irreverent. Loved your use of words: Knee Grows, Underground Subway and your use of a kind of dance line Greek chorus. Stacey gives inventive twists to old songs and icons from our nation's past. Sobering rewrite of history. She deserved the award from Barrington Stage.

Kate's sense of comedy starts with the name she gives her lumberjack character: Margie Goodwood and her chainsaw Bubba. Margie, who likes "the smell of turpentine and grease rags" and whose backwoods experience could rival Paul Bunyan's is overqualified for the job at Smith's school. "We're just looking for someone who knows how to build houses out of popsickle sticks." The principal, who comes off as a milquetoast, undergoes a transformation by the end of this short play. Fun!

A director would enjoy the challenges and nuances of this short play, the point counterpoint, the subtext, the echoes. The audience will need to pay close attention. Is the man next to her really her father from long ago? Very inventive, poignant.

A wrenching reunion of three siblings that gather after their mother's suicide. With a backdrop of a storm brewing, they clash like thunder over past hurts. Amidst all that, there's poetry, concern for the environment which has been devastated by tourism and development and ...each other. Svich creates a haunting sense of place and a rattling of the emotions.

He had me from the first line : a reference to Hamlet. John also invokes a crazy but heartfelt prayer: "can you stop me from being such an asshole? Thanks. Amen." Could be played as a comedy or drama.

Simple set, good stage directions and subtext. The salesperson's asides get crueler as the play progresses. I feel for her. Believable.

Very good pacing, clever concept that many in an audience could relate to, especially in this age of speed dating. Liked this line from Sonya: "As presents go, this beats a basket of bath gel." Also liked that she stands up for herself in not actually needing him; she has a family who loves her, friends, etc. Nice twist at the end.

Funny short play about two ghosts in training, one of whom is more concerned about the consequences of having his mask cause a bad hair day than following Frightology rules. Sharp contrast between him and another ghost that's supposed to be teaching him scare tactics. Clever names for the characters who also do a great job of engaging the audience. Nice twist at the end.

A wise possum counsels a distraught squirrel who narrowly missed getting hit by a sports car. Then possum demonstrates what he does to stay alive. Great short play for children and adults.

This playwright believes in love and it shows in this tender one minute play. Optimism in difficult, stressful times like these.