Recommended by Lee R. Lawing

Houston's powerful play rips the band-aid off the topic of race and equality. Best line I've read in a long while is"their desire to hide in the illusion of harmony," and captures so well the thin line that separates us and brings us together. It would be a great play to stage at any festival of short plays. Well done.

Powerful and so well written. The one line that stood out to me is “Neither ask my opinion” and this old tale spun anew with such grace and poetry gives a voice to another mythological figure who seems to be nothing but a pawn for higher beings but is fleshed out whole with such style by Wilcox that I am in need again to read the old tale of Persephone and how SHE changed the world.

I cheered the ending of A Humble Path and then felt bad that there are people like this in the world, and yet Martin presents such a fascinating and conflicted character on stage that you are drawn into their madness and their world and feel sick for watching but cannot turn away. Theater offers us the chance to step out on limbs and test their stability and this is a play where I feel Martin has done just that and like all of his work, that limb holds up and supports this dramatic turn for this playwright I so admire.

I'm a sucker for love and romance! I love this short and sweet play and I love Eddie's breathless speech at the beginning. What a character who speaks from the heart and wears his love on his sleeve. Great role for an actor, and such a charming short play for any 10 minute festival out there, gay or straight! Take that all you Aunt Bettys!

This play is such a delight to read and so funny and Hageman inspires me with this play as she has done with so many of her work. Her humor is here without a doubt but more than that is that zing of human in her characters that make them instantly relatable even if they are Batman and Robin and The Joker on the world stage laundromat.

153 pulls at you in so many ways. As others have said, it plays to every audience member in the house, but also just holds a mirror to some of us even more closely. As artists we hold that mirror so closely to ourselves that it sometimes gets too fogged up, but plays like Martin's 153 clear away the fog and allows us to see all too clearly that inner self that we sometimes tuck away too tightly.

What a wonderful tale set in the library! It not only plays out its magical story to a satisfying conclusion, it inspires hope as any good magical journey should! I for one have been a fan of Michele's work since I read my first play by her and this only continues my appreciation for her charming and engaging work!

Searing rip on the superior race crap and funny as hell to boot. There should a law that mandates everyone have their DNA tested and made public record! Gross delivers with this sharp ten minute spotlight into the corner of the ever present race war.

The thing I love about Hovanesian’s work is the element of surprise with every play I read and Wilderness does not disappoint. I was caught up in this tale of murder and jealousy till the very end. As humans, we are always patting ourselves on our backs at how far we’ve come through time and space and we try so hard to hide the basic animal we’ve stepped away from but Wilderness brings us back to the reality of how far we have to go before we can actually celebrate our evolution.

Whenever this play is staged, sign me up for a golden ticket because it will truly be a magical experience. Most probably love the original book and movie and I'm definitely one of those, but Hayet has created a sequel that is so heartfelt, and in his own words, "Creativity with Consequence." This sequel, set 15 years later had me looking at those things that we want and the price one can pay for wanting them. I'm too much like Chuck for my own comfort, but I still believe in the ability to change the world just like him.