Recommended by Scott Sickles

The bond between human and feline... does it exist? If so, what are its limits? If not, then how fragile is the peace between our species and how long will the sunlight keep us safe? Boop, indeed!

POWER POSE opened the Faces of America Monologue Festival #3, and it is both the perfect curtain raiser and a tough act to follow! Anyone who's had a disastrous job interview -- or worse, a series of disasters on their way to an interview -- will relate to the struggle, the frustration, and the speaker's wrestling match with dignity. POWER POSE is fun, funny, and inspiring!

OSO FABULOSO IS FUCKING FANTASTIC!!!
I just saw Jiménez perform it and I am blown away. Oso is a tremendous star vehicle for a Queer Latino Bear with a spectacular voice for rock vocals! The music is fabulous – high energy, a melange of styles, and hook after hook after hook – but the narrative is essential! Oso comes off like fierceness itself, but his reason for performing this very show comes from heartbreak. It's a lesson that even the fiercest among us are vulnerable to love, and even the most vulnerable need not be vanquished by it.

It's a simple request. You'll be embarrassed that you didn't think to do it without being asked, even though the circumstances seem to warrant doing otherwise.

The magic of the piece is not only the request, but how Martin freezes time around it. An almost-literal pause button is pushed, the conversation equivalent of stopping an elevator, just for the one crucial moment, this one simple favor, that will be degrees sow happiness in all the days to come.

A beautiful moment, captured in flight. Classic Martin.

I had only read the title before starting the play. That and the words "radio horror play." You know you've read/heard a good radio piece when you remember SEEING ALL OF IT! The leather handle, the splitting logs, the deer and the hogs, the bruises. Even the dark because you remember not being able to see at all. Then, you remember what you heard. Everything you heard. And you can't forget any of it.

Magnificent, haunting, astonishingly atmospheric, and terrifyingly suspenseful, Bykowski elegantly drops hints while letting your imagination to lead you into the dark and the noise. Exquisite.

It's all fun and games until someone loses their shit.

What many people don't do is ask why. Why did that overreaction happen? Was it, indeed, an overreaction? What caused this moment to happen? There's always an answer.

This is a play about miscommunication and missed signals, about trauma hidden from those we should share it with because no place seems safe anymore. Cathro builds the tension openly as we see mirth rapidly slip away. There's a verité quality to the proceedings as though we're in the room. The surprises are powerful and their understatement amplifies that power. Quietly unsettling.

Oh, this is lovely. Filled with twists and turns, not unlike a snake coiled around a steering wheel seeking warmth in the light. A great two-hander for mature female-identifying actors, the play is rife with history and emotion -- so much trepidation and love. It's also super easy to produce so here's hoping it's produced everywhere. Again, just lovely.

I read the play.
I read the play before I saw the author's instructions not to.
If only I had listened. It's ghastly.

One character acts with such bad judgement and high disrespect, suggesting a prank not only grotesque but also most likely criminal, the reader believes that this might have been a real-life conversation with a real-life medical intern stressed to the point of manic mischief after working way too many real-life hours.

Fortunately, the other character is a judgmental stick-in-the-mud, so I feel represented!

Naughty, appalling, and great fun. Whatever you do, don't read it! (Read it.)

There are probably more plays in the genre than there have ever been playwrights, so it's always nice when someone throws in a new twist. Edmondson gives us to likable characters, one of whom has made a cowardly decision. The play begs questions about social responsibility, witnessing and experiencing trauma, and how we're sometimes helpless to help. Amidst all of this is a gorgeously theatrical (and cleverly simple) change in dynamics (along with one of the best stage directions ever) and suddenly all the stakes have changed along with the questions. Fast-paced and through provoking, a terrific short.

I know FJ Hartland’s broad comedies, so this tender reconciliation story came as a surprise, a beautiful surprise. It’s a gentle two-hander that is tense and energetic, and elegantly underplayed. Easy to produce and wonderful for two actors who know how to modulate their robust personalities. There are some lovely, unique details in here that audiences, especially older folks, will just eat up.