Recommended by Scott Sickles

In the evolution of babysitters, WE ARE HERE!

Before my time, parents sat their kids in front of the radio. I got the TV. Then the VCR. After that... I'm sure you remember.

None of it is necessarily bad. Primarily because the electronic babysitter didn't talk back. But after decades of relishing cautionary tales about AIs and then ignoring them, we are once again at a techno-crossroads.

The dad's fears and reactions also reflect an evolution: of predators and other interlopers. Cole keeps it light with just the right tinge of menace, her characters embracing humanity with warm fervor.

When is a monologue really a dialogue??? When the character is a GEMINI!!!

Whether you believe in astrology determining personality or not -- and a gemini can argue both sides AT THE SAME TIME -- this play takes the archetype, humanizes the duality into a singular persona, and mayhem ensues!

Floyd-Priskorn gets her David Ives on in a way that is uniquely her own. The play jumps around in time and place and I found myself thinking of how I would stage each of them! A delightful series of characters, setups, and payoffs that culminate fabulously!

First, this play would make a lovely foundation for an evening of plays about Christmas shopping. The set description asks for "a backdrop with various storefronts." Festival producers, imagine the possibilities. No, really: imagine them.

As for the play... We can tell from the get-go this isn't just any Christmas shopping excursion. The dialogue doesn't give anything away; it's all perfectly normal. But there's something about the tone... then little clues and hints... shifts in mood... and finally, the truth. And a sad and beautiful truth it is.

Again, a wonderful cornerstone for a holiday program, backdrop or not.

The message is clear, the satire sharp, and the mythology on point! You would think/ hope/ delude one's self into believing that after the world's waters have evaporated into one modest puddle, people might not be assholes.

WRONG!

Faith in humanity is one thing, pragmatism is not only another but apparently the opposite. Fortunately, this is Hawaii and humans do not reign supreme. Here, there are gods. And this puddle is under the protection of a charming trickster who gives humanity every chance.

Lawing's landscape and characters blend vivid imagination and climatalogical portent in a potent modern fable.

First of all, there is nothing, NOTHING irrational about Coquelicot's apprehension of washing machines! They are like people in that they all seem the same but each one is different with a unique set of needs, demands, and methods of communication which vary from clear to bafflingly opaque!

NOT UNLIKE OUR CHARACTERS!!! (See, it was relevant!)

From the get-go this is a loaded conversation. The small talk and banalities and never really small or banal. DeFrates establishes a fun yet off-kilter atmosphere that's perfect for her two oddballs. They're impossible not to like and, by the end, adore.

This was exquisite.

It’s amazing how much empathy, heart, and pathos emerges from two strangers stuck in what appears to be a makeshift holding cell (a dilapidated laundry room) in a theatrical limbo that’s clearly connected to a harsh otherworld.

We don’t know specifically how these plague doctors have disgraced themselves, nor does it matter. This is about the now. And how to bring the beauty of What Could Have Been into the ugliness of What Is. A comical attempt to carve a name leads to much grander dreaming.

The payoff is sublimely powerful and haunting.

There has never been a more riveting study session! It helps that the characters are so clearly delineated even when they don't necessarily want anything personal from each other. They're there to discuss the assignment, but their personalities, attitudes, and interests make a compelling back-and-forth. What could have been Wikipedia broken up into dialogue instead builds upon the stakes of a long-ago case examined through the lens of current law and science.

This would be great for classrooms. But I would watch a series about these four going through law school. And I'm totally shipping Jake/Kate and Charlie/Claire.

If Horatio Alger and The Coen Brothers had a love child...

John Busser celebrates women entrepreneurs of a certain not-that-old-but-too-old-for-the-job-market age is this mostly-a-monologue marketing seminar. I always prefer when a monologue is addressed to another person, seen or unseen, than to the audience. And here, well... like the sweet, cheerful lady before you, still waters can't be judged by their covers.

A person's gotta do what they've got to do in this ruthless economy. And just because you're ruthless, doesn't mean you can't be chipper. And you'll want her to succeed. A lot.

There’s nothing like the early crushes. The long ago infatuations. The details you that bridge the distance of time and keep your heart afloat. Williams has gifted us with a lovely nostalgia piece that also dares to go places that sometimes even memory doesn’t like to admit to. But there is love and kinship and a spark and regret, all of which are even easier to remember than some of those details.

It’s situations like this that make me lose hope. That convince me the battle for decency is lost. Because I live in a bubble, it never fully sinks in that there are parents who WANT these things for their kids. Of course, from her POV it’s out of necessity. She wants her kid to protect themselves and if necessary, fight back in kind.

The only hope here is the kid doesn’t want it. And that’s what I’ll cling to.

Syran has fashioned a powerful dissection of the American maternal psyche in untenable times.