Recommended by Charles Scott Jones

So often we hope to thrill to theatre that defies expectations. Here with FINAL SCENE (aka: LAST SCENE IN A HORROR FLICK) Christopher Soucy has written a short horror play that runs parallel to what we seek in the denouement of horror flicks. With minimalist effects the audience can sit back and wonder WHY we love to be scared and bond while laughing at ourselves. Hysterically funny. I can see 2 actors having a riot with this! Might be wrong of me but so glad Maggie and Holt didn't end up at the Waffle House.

I can totally visualize the staging of SCHRODINGER’S HIGHWAY. The weird quantum moral hand-wringing is funny and disturbing in equal measures. A little bit of knowledge - especially of the ilk that comes with daytime TV - is a dangerous thing, and as Jeremy and Nicole bicker and then debate a hit-and-run rationale, this play gets at the cowardice that in one shape or another we’ve all wrestled with and are afraid will overtake us. Great think piece from the fabulous mind of John Busser!

Goodness gracious what a gorgeous poem play! A DOG IS A CREATURE OF A NOSE is sensual and lyrical and keeps you guessing where it's going as it informs and transports you along the way. We humans are so locked into our narrow sensuality that it's a blast to experience a dog-nose take on the world. Emma Gibson's strategy to dispense with a standard premise and let us be led by our noses is a wonderful way to match form with content and theme, allowing the beauty of her language to drive the action. Fine inspiring work!!

THE KINDNESS OF ENEMIES is an extremely well-crafted short play about the uncomfortable, complicated time 1 and 2 are having post happy-hour sex and the nature of “home.” Alterman is his own playwright, but there’s the finesse of David Ives at work here, and I see this play as a descendent of Strindberg’s school of naturalism. The title is just right and I love the Peter Gunn line “Don’t you have a home?” Seduction can be easy, the aftermath hard. I love the otter routine. This fine work makes me want to experience more from Glenn Alterman.

THURSDAY MORNING, 5 A.M. addresses the fighting-neighbors problem with a subtle grace that has you scratching your head in the best sense. Adam Richter has such a gift for writing poignant very short plays.

The title YOU SEE THEM IN THE CORNERS OF YOUR EYES led me here. I’ve been afraid of this concept, with my imagination running wild with just a bit of peripheral input, since junior high! And now here it is - a two-hander that beautifully explores the feeling of dread I’ve long wished would be put into words. As with Conor McPherson’s masterpiece THE WEIR, Daniel Prillaman’s ghost story gets more and more personal until its chilling conclusion. It's the intimate friendship of Charlie and Max - how they overlap that makes this one-act superb!

What I admire so much about Scott’s monologue - THIS IS NOT A TOUCH EXHIBIT - is how perfectly it describes the kinds of chance encounters one has over the years - when love at first sight or whatever it is doesn’t go anywhere or lead to anything - there’s no linear progression that guides it into the mundane - it’s just spectacular for what it is - a momentary obsession, a litany of adorable shortcomings that will live forever somehow, someway in memory. Where true happiness lies.

Initially it’s cool that Sam the imaginary friend is always 14, an adolescent, but for a child an older sister at the threshold of adulthood, an ideal guide for the coming years . . . but as SAMANTHA’S FRIEND continues the eerie tension builds between Samantha and her parents as we wonder about the true nature of the supernatural visitor. Plumridge knows how to patiently and expertly add twigs to the story’s fire, and I love how the structure of the play diverges in such a way that it mirrors the action and character dynamic, giving us twin riveting conclusions!

Wonderfully imaginative, yet anchored in the real world —BARN WOOD AND BLUE ROSES appeals to both the kid and adult in me. I love Jacquie Floyd-Priskorn’s inventions (eg: The Land of the Nebulous, The Dragon Lady L’ Sea, the Obnoxylan, D’Nova, The Blue Lady, Mistress Kay) and her deft balancing of the real and the surreal. The wonderful symbolism for cystic fibrosis and its medical applications and the witty, playful relationship of Chelsea and Devon - love the barn wood art - entertains the head and the heart. Terrific and inspiring for all ages!!

British and American, for their slang and cadences, can make English seem like two different languages. A quandary John Daily explores gracefully in his winsome one-act, GOING PAIR-SHAPED. Very difficult to keep the momentum going for strangers meeting in the produce section, but the flirting and deflecting between Samantha and Edgar feels as fresh as good lettuce. A favorite moment for me is when Edgar shares the nature of his occupation by showing Sam a compelling photo. Don’t be a “numpty” —check out this charming rom-com with a twist you won’t see coming. I'm still thinking about it.