Recommended by Scott Sickles

When I finished this play, both hands slammed into my temples as I declared aloud: “FUCKING GENIUS!”

Of course, I don't want to oversell it… Logan makes that mistake in the play, overselling Sally’s sea-shell shop to Page and look what happened…

Seriously, LOOK!!!

A glorious absurdist piece, it weaponizes a tongue twister into a metaphor for the prison of expectation.

Again, Marchant demonstrates her gift, or rather her expertise, for creating characters in off-kilter circumstances with deeply human needs and impulses.When you see the end coming, the tension only rises.

The payoff is stunning!

Intriguing, unsettling, and amusing all at once, and fascinating through and through! Marchant captures the absurdist tone and atmosphere of Pirandello (and all great absurdists) giving the characters a setting and scenario and relationships that are just realistic enough but also ever so slightly... off.

While there is a mild sense of menace, it seems clear the wife and the secretary bear no ill will toward the husband and are in fact rather concerned. In a second reading, the interpretation can be quite different with a noirish dread!

It's delightful any way you do it. See for yourself!

Oh, these two... They're trying to have a baby and have no idea what they're in for! BUT... they know that and are as eager to learn as they are to keep trying. Fortunately, there's a trial run in Landon's near future...

Mackling does a lovely job shaping two characters on separate trajectories toward a common goal. There's an odd emotionality to Landon (especially in his manner of speaking) suggesting some neurodiversity, especially in contrast to Melody's more typical (or titularly "common") phrasing and behavior. It all blends together nicely and they're fun to root for!

Oh, how I love a good life story. (Especially one that's a page and a half!) Here, Ferny-Williams shares the life story of a doll (from the doll's POV of course!) in a glorious paean to the anthropomorphized toys with whom (not which, but whom!) we form lifelong bonds.

Through Annie's eyes we get the life story of her person-friend Alice. Life's a bit of a roller coaster for Alice. As such, Doll Annie constantly faces the danger of being discarded or outgrown. What a human fear.

Annie's life story is a testament of love and devotion. Love her!

Nostalgia is underrated.

On the surface, this is a nostalgia piece, a gorgeous one. But I see it as a war story. The battlefield is memory, the adversary is grief, and the weapon is reminiscence. The objective isn't victory; it's peace.

At the center is a fairy tale romance. Fairy tales aren't cute. Cute is a distraction from magics dark and light, from love embattled and hard-won, from misery and goodbye, where sometime's true love's kiss is not enough.

Lawing gives us all this with one gay widower and a three-in-one ghostly visit. It's magic and loss and it's beautiful.

Not all heroes wear capes. Sometimes, they just need to stand up to power, not only for themselves but for the institutions they care about and the people those institutions serve. Mrs. Frederickson is a *super*hero in that regard.

Wyndham has been writing some scathing monologues criticizing the state of education in the U.S. Anti-education and anti-intellectualism are a cancer in this nation. Qualified people are being punished by and/or in favor of the ignorant and it must stop.

Mrs. Frederickson confronts the idiocracy. We could all learn from her example and bravery.

Not all monsters have fangs and claws. Many have sweet smiles, chirpy voices, and bastardizations of the Bible on their tongues. These are their weapons. Victimhood is their gambit. They clutch their pearls, place their hand reverently on the flag, and sometimes don't know the difference between the Pledge of Allegiance and the Declaration of Independence.

Some of them are educators. Many have very little training but there's a teacher shortage so qualified people are replaced by ideological changelings.

Karen Maverick (what a name) is such a demon. Wyndham has rendered her with disturbing accuracy. Attention must be paid.

It began the way all tales of love and larceny and a-word-meaning-fate-that-starts-with-the-lettter-L begin: with a writer. But this time... this time there were two. I'd say one was a sucker for song lyrics and the other was nutty for noir, but things are never that simple with synergistic scribes. No, this deranged duo indulged a conspiratorial compulsion to combine the two in a twisted, tumultuous tale of one determined dick, four dangerous dames, and a clever character cameo! The craziest collaboration to come out of Britain and Nippon since John and Yoko! Okay, bad example! Lurid, lyrical, and loony!

It began the way all tales of love and larceny and a-word-meaning-fate-that-starts-with-the-lettter-L begin: with a writer. But this time... this time there were two. I'd say one was a sucker for song lyrics and the other was nutty for noir, but things are never that simple with synergistic scribes. No, this deranged duo indulged a conspiratorial compulsion to combine the two in a twisted, tumultuous tale of one determined dick, four dangerous dames, and a clever character cameo! The craziest collaboration to come out of Britain and Nippon since John and Yoko! Okay, bad example! Lurid, lyrical, and loony!

I AM NOW READY TO ROB A BANK!!!

Although I must say it's a lot more work than I thought. (Maybe I'll stick to writing. Somehow, that seems easier.)

This exchange between a seasoned bank robber and an up-and-comer is a treasure trove of wisdom, even if a lot of that wisdom comes from the pictures and not personal experience. But there is worthwhile experience to be passed along!

There are stories within the story and each is delightful in its own way. The play is as much about narrative as it's about larceny. A complete joy!