Recommended by Charles Scott Jones

PERSEUS AND THE PRETTY PURPLE PICKLES is a tongue twister, a Greek-myth introducer, a real charmer for audiences of all ages. I laughed out loud at 6-year-old Perseus’s unconcerned interaction with the snake-haired shopkeeper Medusa. And I love the tone of polite dignity and the theme of sharing! Great use of repetition. Well done, Martin and Cathro!

PERSEUS AND THE PRETTY PURPLE PICKLES is a tongue twister, a Greek-myth introducer, a real charmer for audiences of all ages. I laughed out loud at 6-year-old Perseus’s unconcerned interaction with the snake-haired shopkeeper Medusa. And I love the polite dignity and sharing! Well done, Martin and Cathro!

Very very moving! I was surprised that Jeen’s inability to find words, her aphasia, is such a strength in the script. The tension between Jeen and Zannie (great names) is drawn out with such empathy that I felt knocked back with the power of it. Not taking sides, just feeling their predicament. I would love to see a performance of GOING HOME by Arianna Rose

Let’s have words. Let’s have wild and wooly words. Let’s have a play in which the only words spoken are phonetically and semantically comical. Silly ticklish funny-bone words have as much right to be said as ordinary words. What a marvelous rebellion against seriousness is FUNNY WORDS by Arianna Rose.

“I love math,” says Alice, a scientist - and this simple statement has surprising resonance. The FLAT EARTH, a science fiction one-act by Mike Byham, is unabashedly smart and surprising and romantic. There’s talk of irrational math and science poetry. A theoretical physicist John delivers a series of startlingly monologues about the physics of love - most notably in Scene 7. The modern sense that the title THE FLAT EARTH takes on is exciting. This is an erudite delight!

I love how fully Evan Baughfman commits to the concept of two dudes brainstorming about a groundbreaking retro werewolf movie. YEAR OF THE WEREWOLF opens with a hysterical concept - and keeps it going. I wanted to be there pitching along with them. Inspired horror movie fun for the stage.

A one-minute play like a wistful folk song. Like a lovely tune Dylan might’ve written one day while annoyed with romantic love. Makes you wonder why we fall in love and why we don’t.

The post-relationship patter between Jeremy and John in YOUR PRETTY FACE IS GOING TO HELL is completely believable and excellent. You feel like you know them both and like them and just then when there might have been a reconciliation - maybe ruining a firm breakup - something surprising goes down. Terrific title, terrific moment inspired by a movie, but unlike the movie in such a good way. Lee Lawing plays have such organic emotional centers and this one is a perfect example of that.

Love the implications of Arianna Rose’s ANAGRAM, how are lives as humans are shaped by the limits of language and our physical needs. The pace and length of the action are just right. I can imagine how this play staged would really pull the audience in toward the characters in a tribal way that would be amazing. The writing allows for the actors to bring so much to a performance. Inspiring work!

As macabre as LOU AND BUD KILL THEIR DAD is, this play has the ring of truth. The murdered father who appears only as a hand sticking out of a bucket is conjured up so well you can picture him in all of his obsessiveness and rage. The three-letter names Lou and Bud speak to the overall tidiness of the play and are a constant reminder of the comedians they represent. The monologues add weight to the action. Love the strawberry lament. You’ll never think of the seminal “Who’s on First” skit the same way again.