Recommended by Charles Scott Jones

Set on a park bench, two hit men discuss their role in life and then some. TIME WOUNDS ALL HEELS moves well as Glenn Alterman proves to be a deft and sure-handed dramatist. I love the thing with the watch and how it plays into the title and theme. The John Lennon quotes add an extra layer of humor as we are given to mull over Lennon’s well-documented love life while taking in an exchange of unexpected intimacy between Ted and Tom. Nice work.

The title THE LEGEND OF SNAILS pulled me in. And I love how this play progresses, it’s gradual steady gastropodal movement as Tess and Sophie negotiate their feelings for one another. John Mabey offers the perfect blend of science (eg. “The ways in which snails demonstrate reproductive investment”) and local history from Amsterdam’s City Archive - And the wonderful overlapping of mind and body as Sophie and Tess get to know each other’s worlds. Fine work from an outstanding playwright.

Many short plays succeed admirably because they tap creatively into a universality shared with theatre-goers. If you’re like me, SEX IN STRANGE PLACES ( . . . ) gives you the double pleasure of reliving your own weird sexual trespasses as you read of Malcolm and Janet’s bedroom playtime. It makes me wish we could all see this play with Chris Plumridge and then go out and exchange sexy stories in a pub.

I really admire how dry humor pairs with large provocative ideas in Adam Richter’s work. In HARD DEADLINE it’s funny that the fate of the world may or may not be decided in a sports bar named Stucky’s during an Eagles football game. And hilarious that Brita - with an epic air of beer-slurping sangfroid - must weigh the fate of humankind for the life of one (alien) friend. How do we define loyalty and how must our species define it going forward if we are to survive?

I love the eerie minimalism of Priskorn's HELLO? The more you reread this elegant ghost story, the more it comes off like a master class in alternating points of view. Who is the fearful and who is the feared? This would be gripping and thought-provoking in performance.

Superb bar story. Love the character names, their hinged and unhinged interaction (cursing vs. non-cursing), the cool unexpected tipping point - aka the law of accretion, and the miraculous resolution. When Badass trespasses into sacred bartender space, the play begins to soar. Blevins shows again that she’s a wily psychological dramatist. In some ways TIPPING feels like a full length condensed down and fast-forwarded to its most perfectly dive-bar moment. Can’t wait to read the companion pieces that go with this fine play.

BAGGED demonstrates how important one-minute plays are. So much of our lives is no more than these short encounters that live on inside us, pointillism in the flow of time. I smiled at the very beginning with the staging of the dog just offstage and could feel hostility flow right out to the end.

More tantalizing clues are dropped in WORKPLACE STRESSORS, the third installment of the A FRAGILE MIND series. Swenson pulls off a four-character office scene, seemingly with ease, and builds on the empathy we have for Tammy as she tries to navigate her way through understanding what’s real and what’s just a test. The moments when her consciousness scales over her memory wall are exciting and makes me curious for more. I like the absurdist stress-piling tension of Jason asking Tammy to lunch just after he’s given her an urgent new assignment.

The second installment of Tammy’s story delves deeper into her psyche. RECURRING NIGHTMARES is a thrilling read for its dual tension of Tammy struggling to remember her past - as in clues to the murder she commits in her dreams - with Dr. Kelli’s struggling to help while feeling attracted to Tammy. Their conversation has a gorgeous film noir quality. I love the sometimes breathless way Tammy talks, Dr. Kelli’s seeming battle with her own id. The tantalizing way Swenson drops clues. One thing's for sure. I'm reading the next installment!

Chekhov's use of guns in his plays is a fascinating topic, and Vermillion's one-minute play is a blast. I love most where the play begins.