Recommended by Scott Sickles

WICKED: FOR GOOD was filled with so many bad decisions both on screen and behind the camera. Fortunately, Richter is here to add the right touch of realism to what seems to have been meant as a happy ending to that film. The snark is sharp, concise, and utterly deserved. While this may not make up for the 2 1/2 hours you spent languishing in the cinema wondering why the scarecrow is the only one with (*exactly*) half a brain, this may give you the dose of schadenfreude you need to move on.

A philosophy of mine that can be either assuring or deflating depending on the circumstances is simply: every moment of your life has led to this one.

In this one-page metatheatrical epic, Soucy takes that sentiment and multiplies it by everyone. More than a monologue, this piece founds a new ritual that should be done everywhere (you can have an open flame). Even reading it evokes a feeling of near-universal connection. Not a traditional narrative but a tapestry of many. And it is beautiful.

The synopsis had me in stitches and the play does not disappoint. After a hilarious opening line, the banter proceeds apace with perfect ebbs and flows. Even the sudden addition of an old trope is executed is the most perfectly awkward way. Ultimately, as usual with Feriend's work, there are deeper issues at play. The stakes are quite high for a play about two people standing around trying to decide what to do. But the payoff is another perfection. Also, a play about women in their 40s!!! YAY!

It's called a soliloquy, Nora!

And what a soliloquy it is!

Often the best monologues are arguments, either with an absent entity, one's self, or both. Here, Syran's speaker is picking a fight with someone who is already gone, leading to physical and emotional declarations, resonating the evolution of boulders into stones, smooth and skippable, jagged and sharp - paradoxically closing the distance in an ever-widening space to force an impossible connection. A powerful and empowering piece!

MANIFEST!!!

As someone who's been driven to the edge of madness by cooing pigeons outside my window, this play could have been a hard sell. But leave to Syrian to surround us with magic using the most maddening of birds. Such a clever take on the title, too. But when in France, who wouldn't dream of such a serenade? I know I would. And I love a play that dares to end on a silence before the final curtain. Lovely.

One of the many miracles of this piece is how it breathes life into the soul while simultaneously taking said breath away.. With simplicity, specificity, and meticulous care, this emotional and spiritual travelogue places the audience viscerally in London, sensorially surrounding us with the city until we too become part of its map, the urban ecosystem, the titular walk she's taking. I especially love the Thames as a mechanism of unity rather than a symbol of division. Damn, I need to get back there.

If Paddy Chayefsky wrote a short play about what goes on in the heart of horses, it would look a lot like this. But PLEASE EXIT THE HORSE has O'Grady's direct line to joy, yearning, and missed opportunity that is a hallmark of much of her work. This is one of those plays where you just want to listen to the characters chat. On the surface, it seems like any other end of the day, but underneath there are vast meadows of dissatisfaction and hope. This one starts in the heart and grows outward. Gorgeous!

Apparently it IS possible to have a crazy breakneck farce without a single slamming door! Add some flickering lights, mistletoe, and dad jokes and the audience will eat up the Christmas cheesiness. Byham gives us a relentlessly silly cavalcade of "yes-and"s where even pushback leads to great leaps forward, even when someone falls down. You'll shake your head and roll your eyes but you won't stop smiling!

Add a hearing deficit to the distractions of a crossword puzzle and a beached whale and... well, this happens. The rehearsal process for this piece will be a blast as everyone figures out what Tom and Jerry each thought they heard. The couple has a wonderful lived-in feel – we know them for three pages but they've known each other forever. Through fragments of misunderstood dialogue, Williams provides pointillism of a life well-loved. And some of the misshearings are truly wince-worthy. A joy!

Oh, Adam Richter! You had me at Mensa. (That's the elf's name!) Mensa is the voice or reason and, even more importantly, admin! He's also the play's angry, wounded heart. Meanwhile, there are four magical creatures of various power from different dimension stuck at a mall during the holiday season, at least three trying to make the whole situation about THEM! Santa, of course, aims to please - if you're on the Nice List! Relentless fun, this subtly crazy short sparks holiday joy!