Recommended by Philip Middleton Williams

I saw this play as part of the City Theatre National Award for Short Playwriting series. As always, Marj O'Neill-Butler's deft touch and gentle humor come through as Doris learns how to enter the new world behind the keyboard. I know a lot of people who have been in this situation (and their patient teachers who have guided them), and the moments of trepidation giving way to discovery are charming and touching.

I saw the stage version of this gem at City Theatre. It was hilarious then, and the radio version loses nothing in the transition; in fact, the imagination sparkles like the shiniest star on the highest bough. Mark Harvey Levine's talent for quips that make the play magical are on full display -- or within hearing. Mazel tov!

Better late than never? No, this was worth waiting for. It's funny, touching, hilarious, quirky, and totally Matthew Weaver-ish to read through these tributes to a generous and beer-bread-baker and prolific playwright. (But will he marry me?)

This is a great example of absurdism done exactly as it should be: deadly serious and hilariously funny because it's taken deadly seriously. Applying the Kafkaesque formula of metamorphosis to the inane bickering of two employees at a Krispy Kreme where even in human form they may have felt like cockroaches is exactly right. And since I live in a place (Florida) where cockroaches (known by the politically-correct term "palmetto bugs") are rampant, it skates very close to reality and their aspiration to being in a higher position of authority.

A poetic faerie-tale about the relationships between mother and daughter, real and imaged connections and the loss and rediscovering of love and the burden ordinary life brings with it.

It's like Bram Stoker and Charles Dickens met up at a bar, knocked off a bottle of dark red, and came up with a very original yet classic tale of the true meaning of Christmas... I mean, Xmas. Kudos to Duncan Pflaster for giving us a tale that has a moral, good humor, fun parts for actors, and a twist that wraps it up very nicely.

Okay, I like my coffee strong with a shot of cream, no sugar. That's me. Other people like it with sugar and flavoring, and others like it straight, no additives. Are they wrong? How we take our coffee can be a metaphor for many things, and in this short, sharp, sweet, and strong play, we are learning that it can be a mirror of our identity, of who we think we are and how others see us. Paloma Sierra's stirring of el cafe is perfecto in any language. Muchas gracias.

First dates are always awkward, but in the loving and insightful pen of Amber Palmer, Betty and Erin find that their movie date is the start of a learning experience for both of them. I saw a reading of it as a part of City Theatre's National Award for Short Playwriting Contest 2020, and it was touching, funny, and stayed with me.

You do not need to know the background of these characters to understand their relationship, nor do you have to be a person of faith to grasp the meaning. Relationships between rivals are universal, and the fact that Matthew Weaver has chosen these two towering figures -- mythological to some, very real to others -- only makes the conversation that much more meaningful and insightful. It'd say it's divine.

I've been to modern art shows such as Art Basel, prowled through galleries hosted by eager dealers, shadowed by the artists, waiting for my response to their work; a sign -- any sign of reaction -- to validate or (horrors!) judge their lifeblood efforts. (By the way, visual artists aren't the only ones who do that...) Jack Levine's perspectives on this world is on full display in "Perspectives" with wit, charm, humor, and a wry sprinkling of cynicism that make this worth taking a look at and putting on display.