Recommended by Rachael Carnes

Can a play be funny, have delightful characters, a cracking plot AND be written in rhyming couplets? The answer is YES! This charming play invites a theatrical hand - it's paced for action, and audiences would be surprised and drawn in, I'm sure, by the language play that dances between high aesthetics and profane. Haha! Such fun.

Wow! Delightful language play skitters across waves of raw sensuality in this evocative, provocative piece. Jonte's formatting is sexy. How can words on a page *do* that? I don't know - But the layout's divine, each word pealing like laughter or thunder, depending - This would be a treat to see performed, and if I were an actor, a dream to share with an audience. I am not an actor, and even just reading it, I think I'm blushing a little. A monologue at once alive, and timeless.

A beautiful play that brings together the existential crisis of part of a six pack, the celestial heavens, and nature herself. Gah! I love this. Gill invites us to explore and consider the tiny and the infinite, all at once.

Deeply-felt, linguistically rich, populated with multifaceted characters, this play drives at the heart of being human, finding it... in a bowl of Fruit Loops (TM). A brilliant ode to love, loss, and the things that make us.

Smith's lovely ode to the actor, aged out of roles - and looking back - could express the melancholy of a host of reminiscences, lost opportunities, or just the slow fade of time, that catches up with us all, eventually. The character bemoans the resolution that he'll never play the great prince, that he will always be the sidekick, the fodder, the fool - Can he make peace with it? And how does that light a way forward? A terrific piece for a mature actor, which we need more of.

During the pandemic, I may or may not have developed a habit for consuming slick British heist shows. (Who am I kidding? I've watched them all.) So I am aquiver to discover Shrike and Magpie (Um, GREAT character names?) -- their wit, their confidence, their deadpan droll. I'm already casting this in my head. It's glorious. St. James has a killer concept here - love the edge between Victorian/High-Tech - and I just want to see more of these two women. Brava!

Wang's play is palpably rooted in place. Through the subtle shifts in dialogue, we feel ourselves grounded in a neighborhood in L.A., we see the High School, the surrounding streets and homes, we feel the tug of these two characters, each drawn with clear wants/needs, yet expressing so much more, a universal desire for understanding, for connection, for mentorship, support. And for hope. Just lovely.

A lovely character-driven piece that pulls us into a moment, and the magic of the setting. (Anyone who knows the spot will feel instantly transported.) St. James writes with humor, heart and humanity.

Mark Bly's Kafka's Train exercise takes on new layers of meaning after a year of self-imposed isolation from most of humanity, and in Goldman-Sherman's capable hands, reaches new heights of absurd, though relatable, energy. There's a wonderfully dynamic theatricality to this piece. I am so weary of Zoom sitting-and-talking that even *reading* a play with physical imagination soothes my soul. This wild ride is a dream, and would be a celebration for any creative team that tackles it.

If you've ever had to purchase a chintzy dress you'll never wear again, or been asked to shellack your hair to stentorian heights, or had makeup inexplicably sprayed on your face or tottered in too-tight heels or held a bride's hair while she vomited, or showed up to toast a dubious couple, already rehearsing the "I never liked him, anyway" speech for later, then this gem of a play is for you.