Recommended by Lee R. Lawing

Everyone wants to think they are heard or listened to and so many of us don't want to be forgotten in a world where praise for a few overshadows all of those who deserve the same. Sepia's Messages was my play of the day and I'm so glad it was. Biting and funny with such an important message about how just one message in a bottle can hopefully reach thousands if it's done on TV and if the world is ready to make a change. Let's hope it is.

Just like a singer who loses their voice must be so very painful to live past, a writer and their words are something that would be hard to even describe what that loss would feel like. Martin does just that in this old so powerful monologue about a poet who feels that she is not worthy of an honor that is being bestowed upon her. As the monologue progresses Wanda shows us a fear about loss that will leave you breathless and unable to speak.

This was the play of the day for me . As with most every other characters he creates, Wyndham steps out of his own skin and immerses himself into someone whose voice needs to be heard and Fawzie's voice is no different than any of the other brilliant works by him. Bitingly funny because he taps into that humor so well in Fawzie's plight in this oh so welcoming US of A where cowards who want to be sure to leave messages of hate behind to show that only a few are welcome into this land of the free.

A pitch perfect short play about leaving the safety of your parent's house and heading off to college. The thing that touched me the most was the daughter's revelation about how maybe she developed her desire for the major she's switching to which reminds us all that children are like sponges and always watching us for guidance and for love..

Donnelly's play takes me back to too many dreaded nights alone waiting for those blasted test results and hearing from friends that who had received theirs and all of us just living like a deer in this virus's headlights. Although it's specifically about AIDS and HIV, Peter and Jason's story itself is all about the bounds of love between two friends or lovers, knowing that it with those friends that we can face each new car on the highway.

I saw this produced in a Zoom production and what a powerful production it is. With the times that we are living in in America where it seems like we are heading back toward an empire of one type of belief in the hands of one demonic thing, Dunne offers a timeless play of good vs. evil and the roles that are played by people who are just in positions not so much by any worth or actions, but by a divine right that sees them fumbling through their rule without any wise counsel other than their own mad thoughts.

Wow! Solomonson delivers a tense and taunt thriller in this cold case play. I can see why this was chosen as one of the best plays for the Smith & Kraus publication. You are on edge from the very beginning, that feeling that you stopped breathing catching up to you as you near the end and what an ending. Surprising and so cleverly constructed. This is a must add to your library if it's not already there!

This was the writer of the day and I'm always pleased to find someone there whose work I know and admire. Doggerel is no different as far as the joy it brings in its terse and tense exchange between two thugs. Like any great piece, this one opens up to so many possibilities, all of them with a little bit of knuckle-biting moments.

Busser's works are always a delight to read and this one is no different. Funny and outrageous, it makes you really think What would we do if we could choose the sex of our child? For me, before my son was born I had thought I would do better with a girl just because I was gay and had always gravitated toward the typical girl toys and play growing up, but when we found it was a boy, I never look back and was just happy that in the end, your child is healthy which makes you a littler wise.

Saw this read/performed on Tiny-Theater and it was so well done. Very dark comedy which was funny and exciting to see performed!