Recommended by Scott Sickles

This was one helluva a ride.

Marchant pulls us in with two strong personalities, both charming and infuriating in their own way. And then, REASONS happen. REASONS change everything. Without sacrificing their abrasiveness or over-relying on their charm, the play lets these dads find their way. Paul's situation is so complicated and challenging, even though and especially because things could have been worse.
There's a world of lost parents, lost children, unseen monsters, unspoken discussions, and uncertain paths.
Terrific roles for two male actors. This play's power lies in its simplicity and it is profound!

I know. You're thinking, "Do we really need another neo-expressionist memory play about sexual expression, the pursuit of faith, 20th century neurodivergence, honesty versus love, home appliances, and the difference between werewolf erotica and werewolf porn?" I PROMISE YOU THIS ONE IS DIFFERENT!

Truthfully, I've read nothing quite like it. Bray employs brazen theatricality and a linguistic symphony to tell a story of family, creativity, romance, and dreams that's as down to earth as it is lofty. It's a beautiful paradox of lovely characters, inspired silliness, and mesmerizing style.

I adore this play and everyone in it.

Unrequited love is a bitch. The only thing worse than watching the one who has your heart choose someone else, is watching them choose someone who is horrible to and for them.

Boyle vividly creates the heartbreaking and harrowing moment right before entering the Friend Zone... or not. (NOTE: I'm old enough that "Friend Zone" NEVER implied entitlement; a pre-incel epoch!) This BF deserves love, knows he's not entitled and the outlook is iffy... and he ASKS ANYWAY! You'll brace for the worst and hope for the best right along with him. Heroic and always timely.

I'm not sure I've ever laughed at a description of tits before much less guffawed for a solid 30 seconds. And I never would have expected a certain someone to be the Gladys Kravitz of body parts but here we are!

As someone whose male body rebels against him constantly, I must say, GUYS HAVE IT EASY! Schilling creates a hilarious negotiation between person and personified body parts: a nightmarish scenario filled with wonderful anguish and mirthful defiance. The theatricality is glorious and the roles, even the brief ones, are a hoot to play and behold!

Reading this in 2022, a year after the 45th Presidential administration ended and a fascist insurrection at the capital, steeped in news of surging hatred, I often wonder how long I’ll be able to avoid being sent to concentration camp. For me, that’s part theory, part threat. For Otto Rahn, it was reality and a catalyst to eternity.

Lawing provides an afterlife worth leaving the mortal world. Less the gorgeous landscape than the company and conversatiion! The answers you never get in life. Unforeseeable adventure. What a lovely destination for a soul lost in life.

Relationships can be tricky.

SIRENS provides to wonderful glimpse into mythological man-trapping from the less examined perspective. Sassy, funny, and surprisingly practical!

Three great roles for female actors and a fearless design team! May this be produced everywhere with great imagination and aplomb!

I COULD NOT BELIEVE MY EYES!!!

Or my brain.

Because the pleasure centers were suddenly vibrating songs of mirth.

I heard laughter and felt an inner quake and then realized the quake was the laughter and the laughter caused the quake and together we were a trinity of one guffaw several times.

Details flooded my narrative brain theater. Brilliantly and meticulously observed details surprised and delighted.

I learned.

The relationships and the people that made them as individuals were real on my mind’s stage and the page on my phone and existed! EXISTED!!!

And there was joy.

Whoa…

Christmas is a time for foregivenss, for letting go of grudges and embracing humankind. Unless it’s an old bully, in which case screw that.

Bray creates a palpably awkward reunion between two classmates who were far from friends. Neither Randy nor Stoge fit bully/victim archetypes but are regular guys with incompatible dispositions: introvert and prankster, Nitro meet glycerine. Forgiveness is difficult with a transgression so resonant and an apology so weak. A saxophonist provides great atomospheric and character counterpoint, resulting in a blend of potent personas that goes down with aged, smooth perfection.

Authors often take the lives of their minor characters for granted. Dickens didn’t. He seemed to have a backstory for everyone, or at least knew where they came from: the world, the home, the family, the food, the loss, the love.

Hunt takes one of those characters and immerses us in their world. And it is magical! The attention to detail in setting and characters utterly charms us and there’s enough doubt and poverty to keep things from becoming saccharine. Hunt gives us a holiday confection made from the finest traditional ingredients. Ah Dickens!

There’s a great narrative irony in this piece: the narrator has a one-sided conversation with the dead that also serves as a eulogy to the living. It’s a testament to how love changes us, not for better or worse necessarily (as the speaker doesn’t regret who she was before) but simply because that’s what love does. So much is packed elegantly and organically in this paragraph. Perez gives as fully realized human, their complicated relationship, and immerses us in the setting in a few lines. It’s a miracle in a small space.