Recommended by Scott Sickles

The funny thing is, I didn’t read the character description until after I was done with the monologue. I pictured a much older man. So the good news is it works like gangbusters no matter how old the actor is. The better news is, the stakes are sky high regardless. Baker has created a vivid and complicated man and Eddie, Establishing a rich backstory in very few words that informs a present-day dilemma that gets deeper as it unfolds. It reads like working class poetry that brands the heart.

"Gather round, children, and let grandpa tell you a story." Herein these pages lies the BEST GRANDPA STORY EVER TOLD! Weaving his way through history with an alacrity and skill the creators of Forrest Gump couldn't even dream of, we're treated to a chronicle of Bee Movies from the underappreciated yet absolutely essential perspective of someone who was there for all of it, not just as a witness but as an unsung star! Hollywood lore at its finest, warmest, and most entertaining!

First off, any play that encouraged cooking onstage, I'm predisposed to loving. Here it's particularly fun because IRL you'd be waiting a bit for those eggs and the silence during that wait, not to mention the aroma, would be a quiet delight. There's a great contrast in the play between the quiet and the loud, between seething and screaming. And act by act, beat by beat line by line it's a treasure. Rich with subtext, this is beautifully astute look at managing marriage and emotion. Wonderful!

Friendships come and go. But when you're a little kid and a friendship ends, you still have to see them every day. No matter how far away they are, they're still too close, and no matter how close they are, they're still so far away - in one way or another. Syran beautifully depicts the isolation in captivity that pervades elementary school disintegrations, leaving just enough of a clue as to why. There's beautiful sorrow and pathos in this exchange culminating in a visually stunning landing.

I just saw a glorious production of PORTUGAL in the Fresh Fruit Festival in NYC! When the characters started talking my first thought was, “Oh no! It’s THESE GAYS!” That overprivileged couple You get trapped talking to at a party while they passively brag about the burdens of luxury. And that’s certainly who they start out as. But as the play zips along at breakneck speed, Moore vivisects their marriage giving us an astonishingly deep examination of their relationship dynamic and their souls.

Faithfully fallowing some of noirs most compelling tropes while putting original spins on others, this cherchez les femmes leads its gumshoe along with the audience down a dark alley. that takes a spectacular turn into unexpected and even greater darkness. If you love the genre, this will grab you by the throat and give you a buzz. (No pun intentded but since it's there...) Beautifuly lurid, languidly compelling, and ultimately hautning. Never has bookended narration packed a punch like this.

First, a confession. I never knew why they called it "the birds and the bees," so thanks! Anyway, every era needs its crusaders, warriors who confront the ills of their time with passion, vision, and practicality. Kate has two out of three. The play prefectly illustrates the impractial passion of the misplaced visionary and what it's like to be their damn friend. Where Kate is hellbent on solving mass triviality, Holly is forever mired in an overabundance of pragmatism. But damn they're fun!

When you read this, AND YOU WILL... read it out loud.
It's truly a diabolical delight. O'Grady has gifted us with the St. Peter of Perdition and I've gotta say, I want to hang out with this dude! After work, obviously. He's the coolest of cryptids in the hottest of climates, where justice is meted out with nonchalance and without mercy. He's better than this new soul deserves but then he's the greeter so warmth is in the job description. I love plays about Hell, and this is one of my new faves!

"Everything was beautiful at the ballet..."
~ Marvin Hamlisch, A Chorus Line

Everything is certainly beautiful in this ballet/pantomime in it's own bearish woodsy way.
Weaver has created an anthropomorphic ursine classic, with bears and cubs and books and bees. It's truly adorable, full of moments as rich as they are simple, much like the best honey. A treat for kids and adults alike!

A perfect noir sendup complete with voice over, a thug roughing up a gumshoe, and a femme fatale whose legend precedes her. Soucy embraces these tropes while sending them up with all the love a hard-boiled soft-headed schmuck has for the cold-hearted stilettoed dame that done him wrong then done him wrong again. As with any great noir, the play sticks the landing with a perfect parting shot!