Recommended by Philip Middleton Williams

This story was very hard to read for all the right reasons. Marj O'Neill-Butler, who has never shied away from powerful and strong characters told with gentleness and depth, tells about her own loss and scars without holding anything back. The strong emotional attachments are being ripped away by forces neither she nor her loved one can control, and the pain is palpable. Having seen this happen in my own life brings it painfully close, but she tells it in such a way that anyone will understand. Devastating.

A cute combo platter of marital spats and insect swatters along with a charming host who makes a wicked margarita and dispenses wisdom. iQue bueno!

The lessons of Greek mythology are put to cunning and good use in this tale of hubris, fate, and arrogance, seen through the lens of a Zoom camera. Ross Tedford Kendall gives us characters that are all too true (at least to me, having been a teacher of such entitled students) and his ear for the pointed and sharp dialogue as well as the power structure is exactly right. The irony -- a bedrock of such tales -- and the morals that sneak through almost unnoticed make this a great piece for actors and audience alike.

Rachel and Timmy have things to share, even though they've known each other for so long that there are things they take for granted. And yet there are those things they know about themselves that may yet surprise each other... and themselves.

Dave Osmundsen has the unique ability to write compelling and reachable characters that come to life the instant we meet them, and in this short piece he accomplishes that as well as teaching us... without preaching or polemics. That is a gift that I am glad he shares with us.

It's been fifty years since I've been to Glasgow, and then only for a day as a teenage tourist heading for the airport to go home. But in David Patton's riveting -- in all senses of the word -- monologue mourning the past of a city and world changed by time and fortune, I can feel every step, see every place he describes, hear the sounds, smell the smoke and wonder along with him what happened when he wasn't looking. And while many of us get the same feeling about places we've left, this ode to his past is stunning.

What is it about families -- the people you're supposed to know the best -- and their inability to communicate? In this compact and cryptic short piece, Marj O'Neill-Butler shows us how this eternal quandary plays out without ever revealing what set the four characters on this course. And that may be the most important element of all: it doesn't matter what the incident was that tore them apart. All we need to see is how -- or if -- they attempt to resolve it, and that is what really matters.

The difference between reality and dreams -- or nightmares -- is never really clear. In this mesmerizing tale of a man facing his future, his father's past and legacy, and his own desires and instincts, Ken Love leads us into the gauzy, smokey world where we are never sure of our footing. It grips us unrelentingly and each moment builds tension until we are gasping. This is a play you will not soon forget.

Life is patterns; many of them repetitious, some with quirks that alter the pattern, yet coming back to the same place, and we find comfort in them, so much so that any change is frightening and resisted. In this intriguing and carefully-crafted play, Robert Kerr gives us two people so inured with their patterns that even the slightest change is immediately absorbed, and the repetition goes on. This isn't "Groundhog Day;" it's far more intricate and suspenseful.

What makes a memorable moment? A birthday, a wedding, even a funeral; those are the ones we think of. But more often, especially with those we're close to, either by affection or just by blood, it's a small thing; the littlest recollection, something others wouldn't think of. But in this short and poignant play, Jack Levine brings the moment shared by brothers to us and lets us see the moment through their eyes and the echoes of their childhood. It's to be cherished.

One of the most basic human needs is to find a connection with one another, be it friendship or a deep loving connection, or even a casual acquaintance through work or some other social means. It gives us a sense of belonging, even if it's just a touch, and finding the connection, even if it is fleeting, makes so much of a difference. In this gently-wrought two-hander, Lissa Brennan shows how much we crave this essential bond. The relationship built on words -- and what words -- is precisely what makes it so truly human.