Recommended by Scott Sickles

There really is no pleasing some people.

Some souls are forever mired in the “should,” determined to live by expectations foisted upon them by others and/or foisted upon themselves. Combine that will an inability to let go of the past and… Williams has managed to fabricate a soul so lost, he won’t even find joy in Heaven. Or wherever he is.

There is bliss in Williams’s afterlife: freedom from the body and a license to be happy. Evidently, that too will fade. Fortunately, joyful souls don’t have to wait for the joyless to catch up!

It might be too sweet and cute if the circumstances weren't so utterly, literally dark. There's an empty space that used to be quite full of parents and children, laughers and hopers, bakers and farters, and even tigers. But now... there are only stories and legends for the entertainment of celestials. It's an adorable elegy to all things earth. I imagine it's a joy to perform!

What I found most fun was the undercurrent of sexual tension between middle-aged Karin (NOT Karen!) and Phillip (who is apparently too old to be called Chad!). GET A ROOM, GEEZERS!!! (She's actually not that old. He is.)

Bluestein-Lyons takes archetypes and builds complex people within them. Karin and Phillip are two sides of the same privileged coin (even though Phillip's ethnicity can be anything, his wealth is apparent). Caught in the middle is guide Natasha, who has literal and figurative mountains to scale. It's a great character study and social commentary, and tremendous fun for actors...

Familial expectation versus workaday reality in the early 19th century. O, if only they could have texted!

Alas, Tam and Gabby are slaves to time, circumstance, and their own assumptions. There are so many missed opportunities between them, as sisters, as daughters, as members of a community. Cross hits every note with precision and resonance, from the ways each sister uses language to the expectations of the era. It's a little time capsule depicting a turning point on which the future of this family hinges, and we can easily imagine where they go from here.

The intimacy of this piece and the way it triggers the reader’s empathy into BEING THE DAUGHTER is powerful and alarming. Starkly realistic even during a heightened dream state, its simplicity will ground you while its theatricality will haunt you.

This is what I want to be doing when the world ends.

Though I would at least check another source. (I had no idea gay folks listened to Howard Stern!)

Fast and furious, filled with contained panic, bubbling love and affection, and just the right smack of humor. You'll feel the embrace whether your world is ending or not.

It’s the successful nerd’s worst nightmare times however many millions of miles from earth they are. Richter captures the shock and agony of unresolved childhood trauma on two warring fronts. Putting the characters in dire straits forces them to reveal how much they value life, even if they’re stuck with each other. It’s not the answer one or both of them is hoping for, but it is an eye-opener! We learn a lot about them as they learn about each other, and the damage inflicted and endured. Plus, it’s FUN!!! And the ending is elegant.

Is it shuh-RAZZ or shuh-RAAAHHHZ???

That is the least of this couple’s problems as priorities go to war with pragmatism while shopping for host gift wine that might not make but could certainly break a career (and the bank!)!

McClain paints a delightfully accurate portrait of young marrieds struggling to get to the top of the bottom, debating if it’s worth it to do it this way. A spirited disagreement between fun characters who love each other enough to say rude things to each other in public! You know these people or you are these people!

The Comfort Zone immediately puts us in one. We’ve all been some version of down-on-our-luck Michael or supportive pal Nox. Then Gaelen and Ashleigh show up and suddenly things ARE NOT SO COMFY! The kindness of strangers isn’t always dependable, especially when they smile this much.

The characters, especially “swingers” Gaelen and Ashleigh, are tremendous fun to play! Fight/intimacy directors will love the challenge! This will be a blast to stage just to hear the audience scream “JESUS F***ING CHRIST!” at every performance! Warning: you may need a splash zone.

In case you wondering how a teddy bear had become a demonic undead (un-non-living?) drawn-dreading creature of the night.. HERE YOU GO!

Plumridge gives the classic vampire origin story an adorable spin, filled with such scintillating atmosphere and glorious detail, it's as though your own senses have been preternaturally heightened! Like a good vampire sire, he enthalls and transforms, leaving us thirsty for more!