Recommended by Scott Sickles

It’s very difficult to get through this play without screaming at the men in it. How Jenna manages to hold it in so long… is a perfect example of the anger management women have to go through every moment of every day, especially when they’re dealing with men. Even well intentioned ones. (For a primer on this kind of rage, see also SHE-HULK.)

Simultaneously a scathing critique on the legacy of toxic masculinity and a lovely portrait of a young couple navigating vastly different backgrounds… and Mario Kart! A terrific ten-minutes with a great last line!

What do God, the Devil, and Love have in common. They’re all in the details.

CROSSING AN OCEAN rebels against the amorphous question regarding the state of being in love and instead offers an assessment. If you answered yes to three or more of these questions, you may be in trouble!

It’s a glorious list filled with grandeur and mundanity, fulfillment and frustration… the ecstasy and the agony.

And damn, does it stick the landing!

I have a new hero! Intern Nirmal! Their kindness, openness, and curiosity is as inspiring as their happy dance is warming.

The dialogue is delightfully arch in a Monty Python with Pith Helmets way. (I read it with British accents. It was difficult not to!) Dr. Bill is every know it all ass who refuses to listen even though you’ve answered their question several times!

But the true star is the stork! Their prehistoric visage already gives them a puppet-like appearance, so it’s a gift to puppeteers! It’s also a terrific character!

A tiny tour de force!

What’s really funny, at least to me, is the selection of cheeses. In this Pygmalion story, that a gay dude requires index cards to explain such rare delicacies as feta and Gouda is a scream! It’s like Henry Higgins extolling the virtues of a Brooklyn accent to Eliza Doolittle.

Martin embraces certain preconceptions so he can strategically upend others in this deceptively rich examination of gay/straight bro-hood! So much fun for the actors who get to eat cheese every performance!

Nothing says “I’m thinking of you” like postage stamps with a salivary adhesive.

That’s but one of the optimistic sentiments in this fast and funny one-pager about the kind of inevitable mailers that darken our doorsteps at a certain age. The characters delight despite the brief time we spend with them. I hope the impending birthday celebration is grand!

When the weather turns bad and the wilderness betrays you, a creepy cabin in the woods might be your only refuge. The thing is… people who live in seclusion usually have a reason.

The Demon Lady has a good one!

Bray provides a delicious fete of tropes, twists, and terror that keeps us on the edge of our seats making wrong guesses about what will happen next!
The atmosphere is palpable in its creepy, creaky dampness. Underneath everything there are old wounds and secrets that, when unearthed, reveal greater darkness. Much to our howling glee!

While likely depedent upon the earlier pieces in the series, ACCELERATION lives up to its title. It begins with a deeply unethical situation and before too long, shows us how the characters got there. Sweson does a great job creating disconcerting scenarios that make us want to raise our hands and say, “wait, how can that be happening?” only to enlighten us later. The explanations are reliablly more messed up that we could have predicted. Best of all, they make perfect sense logically while being ethically horrific. A boom-boom-boom of storytelling!

I have a basic philosophy about healing and suffering. The examples change but it’s basically, “Your apocalypse doens’t make my paper cut hurt less.” People who’ve endured hardship in the past often push their resilience onto those enduring present pain. We can’t foist our paneceas on other people’s wounds.

However…

We can pass along our experiences and encourage the best.

PRE-WAR presents two survivors. O’Grady sheds just enough light on thier lives to inspire them to share more with each other, showing how history and simple gestures can heal great wounds.

What a gentle respite.

There’s something about the bond between fathers and daughters: a closeness during childhood that grows turbulant when daddy’s little girl evolves into a rebellious young woman.

Hunt gives us just a hint of life outside of this beautiful placid moment, but it’s enough to paint a panorama of two slowly diverging lives that, one hopes and believes, will never drift too far. The emotions are buttressed by a love for and from a lost grand/father whose nicknames were uncharacteristically sentimenal for a grounded man. It’s a sturdy family tree.

It’s okay to hate your mother.

Trust me.

it’s okay not to forgive her… to cut her out of your fucking life.

What’s not okay… what’s aboslutley unacceptable… is denying someone their anger at being hurt.

What’s not okay is to respond so someone’s rage with, “You have to forgive her. She’s the only mother you’ve got.”

So, I’m Team Karlie.

Donnelly paints a vivid portrait of the scorched earth of intergenerational abuse. Not only the pain but the pragmatic self-preservation. When joy isn’t worth the risk.

A gut-punch.