Recommended by Philip Middleton Williams

The tension that builds in this play is unstoppable, and yet even when you think you know where it's going... Well, you need to read it. The relationship between these two characters is as tense and uncertain as advertised, but never in doubt. This would be a great piece for two actors to bring the audience to the edge of their seats.

This short play is the dictionary definition of dark comedy: you laugh as you recoil, and giggle as the bodies pile up. It also makes you wonder who the hell is in charge of HR in the Afterlife. Adam Richter's dry sense of humor is spot-on for this kind of story, and it would be a great addition to any night of theatre.

Imagine, if you will, Tony Soprano having an existential conversation about life and death on the level of Sartre with one of his marks. This short play covers so much -- from the worth of work to the value of life itself -- that you might wish you were there to take part until the end, of course. Kudos to John Busser, and when it is produced, it is sure to be a hit... in every sense of the word.

There's nothing more delicious than some good dishing between a couple of queens, and Gore Vidal and Truman Capote are the creme de la creme of the royalty, alive or dead. In the hands of Lee R. Lawing, it's divine fun as they put one of their tormentors to the test. Fasten your seat belts, girls.

Okay, now I know who's behind all those rejection letters. It isn't our own self-doubt, which is the bane of all playwrights, but the Fallen One who is really behind it because the Devil himself can't even get into the O'Neill. But when we learn to share our feelings... maybe there's hope... Or is it just some hellish trickery? John Mabey explores it... and then...

Aw... Leave it to Matthew Weaver to take a two-dimensional morality tale and turn it into a one-minute play that shows you the heart and soul of a relationship. Even in the time of plague, we need each other more than we can say -- or what fables may dictate -- and you know that when it's all over, they will go on.

Oh, I know this moment, and Scott Sickles makes it painfully but beautifully real. In this one minute, without knowing the details, we know so much about these people, and the ending is close-your-eyes perfect.

The joke is that goldfish have no short-term memory, but Jennifer O'Grady's exploration of the life of this particular goldfish is illuminating. It makes you wonder how we humans can feel so smug about being able to remember when it seems that forgetting is part of coping. A short piece that will stay with you.

I saw a reading of a portion of this at the William Inge Festival in 2019 and has been in my mind ever since. Octavio Solis takes up the tale of the Joads and brings it to the present with all of the power and scope of Steinbeck's story. Intimate yet epic, the return journey to Oklahoma brings back the memories of the first journey: windswept, desolate, yet looking for hope and peace. It is a portrait of how we have changed in so many ways, but still cling to threads and rough pavement that brought us here.

Grief and kept secrets don't go well together, but in this case they make for a tense confrontation and unexpected outcome. Sabrina Rose Bivens has done a fine job of crafting the right amount of tension balanced with intrigue, and it will provide the actors plenty of room to explore their characters.