Recommended by Philip Middleton Williams

Lanie's decision to blow town is tough. She's surrounded by people who all want something from her, and her choice of a new life is no bed of roses. But she knows that if she doesn't go, she'll never go, and she'll end up like the people she's trying to leave behind. Douglas Gearhart writes in a tense and taut style that keeps your attention because there's nothing predictable about these strongly-drawn characters, and he deftly avoids tropes and stereotypes. This would be a powerful piece for actors in every role.

Twisted, weird, hilarious, and a tad -- scratch that -- just plain bizarre with a generous helping of Hitchcock, Serling, Lenny Bruce and Marx Brothers make up this collection of short plays by John Busser. Take them one at a time or all at once, either way you will enjoy them to no end. I can't imagine what this would be like fully staged, so that is what must happen here. Order your copy through Next Stage Press now, or face the consequences.

That baseball is a metaphor for life and growing up is not a new idea, and yet I love the way storytellers come up with new ways to make it seem as fresh and real as if we're discovering it for the first time. Stephen Kaplan's short and loving play combines several stories -- from "Angels in the Outfield" to "Field of Dreams" and even a bit of "Damn Yankees" and "A League of Their Own" -- to show how Tim grows up and out in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded. It's a grand slam.

If there's anything that we've learned in politics -- and human interaction -- it is that it's the small stuff, the forgotten gestures or moments that can destroy the best-laid plans. In this well-crafted reunion between two college classmates, both of their futures hang in the balance. This would be a great piece for two actors to show their skills as understated but still powerful roles can make for great dramatic tension.

A collection of short plays that together give us a vision of what Hell is really like: missed opportunities, lost love, unsatisfying vengeance, and the arrogance of hubris in the hands of frail humanity. Each one of these four plays comes at us from different directions, with different motives and methods, and yet it's all so clearly done that you find yourself nodding in agreement and wondering where you may fall -- so to speak -- in these situations. Also, funny as hell. Great work from a master craftsman, and now available through Next Stage Press.

Fairy tales have always been ripe for retelling and adapted to fit the times and the tellers. In this fun reversal of the Cinderella legend -- which in its original version is far darker than "bibbety-bobbety-boo" -- Elisabeth Giffin Speckman takes on the world of the paparazzi and media circus of celebrity and gives us a princess who really doesn't want her sheltered and shallow life, looking for real meaning. It's a cautionary tale told with wit, plenty of pokes at our star-obsessed fan-aticism, and a romp for the actors and audience. Get it from Next Stage Press.

I always love good sketch comedy, and this is worthy of anything Carol Burnett would have done -- I can see the casting now with her team -- and Morey Norkin does it so well with snappy jokes, groaning puns, anachronisms up the wazoo, and punch lines that land on the glutius maximus even without a serving of ginin tonicus. Try and read this without laughing out loud; go on, I dare you.

Our imaginations run away with some wild ideas that we can ascribe to our innermost feelings... or are we really alone? Is someone else there, guiding us, goading us? The idea of a writer meeting their characters in the flesh is not a new concept, but in this imaginative -- literally -- tale, Robert's struggles are with more than just his reality. The choices he makes are his own... or are they? Sometimes the world we writers create is more truthful and brutally honest than the real one. Good work that deserves a production.

This moment of stream-of-conscious/subconscious is a lovely and longing reflection on something that represents more than just a piece of furniture, and what this inanimate object holds for the one thinking and speaking the words. A fine piece for an audition or an evening of scenes: heartfelt, touching, honest, and worth hearing.

Two damaged souls manage to find a connection through a struggle with a devastating and unrelenting disease, each battling it in their own way. Despite their best efforts to keep their distance -- and the shields at maximum -- the two learn from each other and how to face their personal traumas, real and self-imposed. In the end, the caretaker becomes the cared-for, and the weak becomes the strong. It's a powerful tale of reconciliation.