Recommended by Scott Sickles

Words are important. They define parameters and conditions. They track our history and realign each other's memories. They express attraction, love, lust. Words also have their limits. What we see in and show one another can hinge on a gesture or reaction. Wordlessness can reveal an evolution that words can only hint at. But sometimes, together they can transcend parameters, build new memories, propel unexpected affection... Anyway, this play is nuts! And no one else could have written it! Bravo

We are told at the top that our titular protagonist, Benny V, has outlived his life expectancy by two years. As such, I surmised the play might be an autopsy of a life. Instead, it becomes a vivisection - a subtle, sublime examination of a superlatively average person's late bloom during a stolen season. Benny V's joys are hard won and even his happiest moments happen on the thinnest of ice. Martin takes daring turns challenging us to think and feel and live. Singularly beautiful and inspiring.

THIS PLAY HAS THE SECOND GREATEST LINE EVER UTTERED BY A SIDEKICK!!! (The greatest will always be “YOU CAN’T FIGHT EVIL WITH A MACARONI DUCK!”) But this one gives it a run for its money! While I did have to start over when I realize the characters were not in fact mice, this is a play that deserves to be read over and over. Line by line, the hits keep coming! A hilariously layered scenario with wonderfully contrasted characters. Including the offstage kaiju kitty! Glorious lunacy!

If you’re single and your well-intended friends urge you to “get out there” and “swipe right,” make them read this. Aloud so you know they did it.

It’ll shut them up AND you’ve made them read a play!

And that’s hot!!!

As ever, Carbajal is a master of economically expressed complexity that distills a significant part of the human experience into a couple pages of poetic resonance. There is one glorious monologue and the ending is a teeny tiny coup de theatre. Much like fireflies themselves!

It’s been quite a while since I read JACOB AND EBENEZER: A LOVE STORY, so I was able to read this excerpt with fresh eyes to see how it stands on its own. Short answer: exquisitely. Richter not only captures a younger Marley and Scrooge but gives their relationship and their lives great breadth and depths. The heaviness of life in the closet is balanced by lighthearted passions, much like the characters themselves. Just lovely.

Some holes you can’t get out of. Either because it’s too late, simply not feasible, or the price is too high. For the friar and Rose… they each get to pick two. Even though one of the characters is an apparition of the mind, the stakes are impossibly high, the love achingly deep, and the available solutions made untenable by devotion, uncertainty, or both. A medieval gem of a play that starts with a familiar feel and evolves into a heartbreak all its own.

3 PEOPLE WERE BORN TO PLAY EVANGELINE WORTH! Anjelica Huston… Eva Green… and ME!!!

I…?

NO MATTER!!! It's gothic horror deliciousness unseen since YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN and before that Roger Corman's THE RAVEN (1963, Vincent Price & Peter Lorre) but I digress! I must warn you about DANIEL PRILLAMAN'S STAGE DIRECTIONS. Their brevity belies the time they will take. Chimes. Returning footsteps. A heavy object. And yet so damnèd funny! As is this whole accursed play.

I look forward to playing the part!

Starting this rec was a challenge. Originally, I wanted to go with "it had me at the character descriptions." Before long, I considered "some people get funnier when they lose the will to live" and then "Debbie REALLY doesn't want to do the work today." Then I was inspired to write "Speaking as a philosophy major with a degree..." Ultimately, I was overwhelmed by possible introductions to rec this laugh-out-loud short comedy that elucidates the malaise of our times so I gave up. #cheesedanish

This totally out of left field what-if scenario blends a classic Jewish mother/ son conflict with fun zingers, at least one whopper of a surprise, and stealth depth. The banter delights throughout, cleverly obfuscating complex and resonant themes about the cycle of life, expectations forged by religion and culture, and varying aspirations of family. Thought provoking while being great fun!

As a miniature golf enthusiast, it's good to know there are others who appreciate greens with windmills, whales, and other hiding places. Speaking of hiding places... SPOILERS!

In this follow-up to COMING IN, Plumridge provides a hilarious and loving portrait of a settled-in marriage between two adorably old fashioned folks who want to add a little spicy to the sweet. At least one of them does, but the other can be persuaded... Breezy dialogue belies a surprisingly rich history of longtime love.