Recommended by Scott Sickles

Insanely fun! Miskatonic University is often mentioned in light cosmic horror humor. (A Facebook friend once listed it as his alma mater. Not sure what happened to him. Not sure if anyone knows…) Here, Soucy welcomes us to school and prepares us for matriculation. It's a beautifully candid introduction expressed with great style and no recruitment BS. Welcome to Miskatonic! You won't be going anywhere anytime soon...

The best kind of surrealism is often grounded firmly in reality. Here, one person believes the impossible, the other does not. We as the audience can see both sides, but by the end, it’s impossible to tell who was right. Like a Twilight Zone set somewhere between Twin Peaks and Candyland, there’s an immediate and consistent sense of urgency, dread, and loss. DeFrates creates a universe, characters, and circumstance that are immediately identifiable and thoroughly unique. It’s spellbinding, quietly terrifying, and jarring. A fascinating piece!

This seemed familiar… Turns out I recommended the shorter version five years ago! This “extended” rendition runs about a whopping five minutes.

And what a battle royal it is!

I had great fun reading both voices and imagining the physical comedy in the stage directions. Actually putting this on its feet would be a scream! It’s a wonderful verbal pantomime and (intentionally or not) brings gay neurodivergence to vivid life! The two front war against one’s mind and one’s mother hit deeply close to home! This will be a festival showstopper!!!

A classic creepy scenario, followed by a classic mysterious scenario, followed by… well, you’ll just have to see for yourself, won’t you? A beautifully layered tropefest with a marvelously gruff leading man, an ethereally mysterious ingenue, loads of atmosphere, inspired narrative sleight of hand, and a brilliant offstage canine companion! Just when you think you’ve seen it before, Feeny-Williams reveals another layer, each richer and more detailed than the last. It’s a lovely journey in one remote room. You’ll feel the chill and taste the coffee!

There is a beautiful matter-of-factness in this monologue. While it describes a hellish, horrific event (the sheer hypocrisy of violators claiming to be the violated makes my blood boil), it doesn’t steep in its own suffering. It is not an outcry of injustice or anguish. Lawing trusts you and the actor to know that those things are there; they require no bold italics. This is a love story. It ended badly. And’s that’s that.

Yet the aftermath both immediate and permanent is profoundly disturbing and endlessly sad. BLIND is a masterpiece of emotional minimum evoking maximum power.

Sometimes we just need time. Children can be insensitive, even when they're apologizing for their insensitive. And unicorns... Well, they've got their own concerns as well. Weaver creates easy-bake magic and a lesson in patience and sweetness. And just like putting on the frosting, sometimes you have to wait for the cupcakes to cool down.

Not as well-informed about classical/experimental music as I could be, I had to do a little background research on John Cage. Turns out, his life partner was Merce Cunningham. After watching a video of cages “4:33“ I had to wonder… what were their arguments like?

Cage's composition turns orchestra into audience and environment into orchestra. One hears every tiny sound in the auditorium. What Martin cleverly does in this play is stages that piece in a "large, teaming outdoor location.” Does an exercise in finding music in silence also work in a cacophony? Only one way to find out!

Who says nothing dramatic happens on a Wednesday?

A testament to the healing power of imagination, this play visits a beautiful variety of realms from sea to sky while keeping us grounded at a sweltering California motel. Miraculously, St. Croix turns these ostensibly oppressive environs into a refuge and a gateway. I love how the characters instantly accept and immerse themselves in each others’ fantasy realms. Though they are instant allies, powerful enemies abound!

The struggle is absolutely real here and the climactic scene had me on my feet while breaking my heart! (Also, BREV CAMEO!) Kudos!!!

Harrowing.

This monologue deals with stigmata. Not the religious miracle bleeding kind, though Christian imagery plays a strong role, but rather "the plural of 'stigma'." There's the stigma of mental illness, the stigma of getting help, the stigma of denial and the stigma borne when abandonmen seems to be a causeway to freedom. And then there's reality! Reality doesn't care about your shame or your paralysis. Reality just does.

Cole presents duelling medical realities: a husband losing ground to his wife's schizophrenia and his own willingness/ability to deal with it. A vivid window into very real hells.

As someone who more than one person has dedicated their rendition of “My Funny Valentine” to, I have a strong appreciation of context.

Many a special occasion has been sullied by those who have no idea what their literary allusions refer to. What makes it worse is when nobody else knows either. And who suffers? The people who do know!

Cross (in what I’m betting is at least a semi-autobiographical nightmare) presents in stark detail the curse of a good liberal arts education. This monologue with vindicate many and I hope bring shame upon many more!