Recommended by Philip Middleton Williams

I could not help but think of my own late husband doing something as well-meaning and quirkily mis-guided as Brian's attempt to make up for a botched holiday trip to the Florida Keys with ... well, not exactly the gifts of the Magi. While Claire throws every epithet she can think of in repelling the gift, there's love in every caustic barb, and Brian's love shines through. Making a new tradition takes some ingenuity, creativity, and just plain love. I want to see this play regardless of the season.

As a recovering teacher of English, and having just sat through the first episodes of Season Six of "The Crown," I can certify that Scott Sickles nails the royal family -- not to mention their love of the equines -- to a fair-thee-well. This is a hilarious, jovial (comma) sketch, and no one dare say neigh.

The Three Wise Men are schooled to the scams that some theatre producers pull off when they're plucking playwriting pigeons for their submissions. Jennifer O'Grady hits every one of the bait-and-switch tactics that playwrights are bludgeoned with in their attempt to get their play read, much less produced. This is the way to shame the shameless, and I would pay real money to see this in a festival, Christmas or any other time.

Sometimes the glue that holds relationships together -- and even may strengthen the bond -- is the differences two people have in their family and cultural traditions. When Andy brings Julie to Noche Buena in Miami and all the trimmings -- and voices -- that come with it, they have to resolve the conflict while they're standing on the doorstep. To some, compromise is anathema, but in the deft hands of Samara Siskind, they find that love -- as well as a certain cinematic pig -- can bridge the gap.

Watching Dan and Dorie work through their first Christmas in a new place presents obstacles that go beyond the unusual setting for someone who's grown up with Jack Frost nipping at your nose. But these are just the surface issues, and as I have come to expect from Marj O'Neill-Butler, there's much more to discover in the moments we're seeing them try to figure out how to make the season bright. The depth and intricacy we see is as complex, conflicted, and ultimately well-told as any full-length play, and the resolution is genuine, loving, and true.

How different cultures celebrate has always been a part of the Christmas season: think of the different names for Santa Claus (Pere Noel, Father Christmas, Santy Clau',) and the emblems of the season: mistletoe, for one. In this loving and engaging short piece, Nora Louise Syran gives us a look at American and French traditions, their clash and co-mingling, and the happy results of putting a bit more of a splash in the eggnog. Joyeux Noel!

I love stories that are allegorical without being preachy, life-lessons that aren't all caught up in Moral Clarity, and get to the honest and harsh truth without making you wish you had a cup of hemlock tea at your elbow. Jacquelyn Floyd-Priskorn's tale of Olivia visiting the tourist gift shop in The Darkness is exactly that, and the depiction of Flurk and Ramiform are not so off the mark for folks we know that calling this a fantasy may not be quite accurate. After all, there are just so many realities we can live with.

Scott Sickles knows how to get to the heart of a matter -- as well as other involved body parts -- in this short and dare I say loving piece. The world of superstar rockdom has always had an aura of fantasy with an underlayer of sadness that the glory of attention is a facade that shows its fragility, and the people who make up that world as well as their wives and lovers know all too well that the patina will fade. And then what have we got? What begins as farce ends as reality and truth. Exactly right.

This moment of hilarity is priceless. The rapid-fire jokes, puns, and name-dropping is magnificent and worth every groan. My only complaint is what do I have to do to get mentioned in a John Busser play? What am I, chopped liver?

The tension in this short play is set forth at the outset as these two trapped men contemplate their fate in the dark, lit only by a lamp that could signal more danger at any moment. In the hands of any other playwright it could terrifying, but Arthur M. Jolly has shown me so many different ways in his writings his ability to create the suspense that keeps you fixated on what will happen to Thomas and Carl, as well as how they anticipate what could happen. I found myself holding my breath, waiting to hear...