Recommended by Lee R. Lawing

We all want happy endings with our love stories. But mythology wasn't the kindest when it came to happily-ever-afters and Kantor's retelling of the myth is one of tragic, yet oh so beautiful proportions. There is always a voice deep inside that's telling us we're not good enough or smart enough or pretty enough, this is a gentle reminder of when we should break the mirrors and stop paying attention to the voices inside ourselves and seek the light before it's too late.

An entertaining tiny play that is very funny and sensual and makes me more aware of the fact that more of us should really take a vow like this for a day or two just to check ourselves out of the constant onslaught of having the feeling that we have to say something. Anything. When nothing is really enough.

Oh the promises we make during our lifetimes which sometimes do come back to haunt us and keep us tethered longer in a relationship that we really should be. Love is never as simple as it should be and we are often assigned roles in our relationship, rightly or wrongly. Aunt Tess is one such person that was of her time and generation- that if in a different time, would show her love a different way, but the thing about love is that it reflects back on you what you want to see and sometimes that helps free us.

Wow! And Double Wow! And wow again! Brady's Angie 4.0 is a classic and it sums up so many of the wrongs done throughout time and history with such poetry. From the set-up of how society has moved toward allowing others at the white table, but only if they are not human and not going to try to ask for their true worth. White Privilege deserves such a ending with this terminator like Angie model. Do yourself a favor and read this play today! It will resonate with you in some way without fail.

The inner child lives in us all throughout our lives. Some people try to hard to get rid of it or have it removed figuratively but it's always there. Some of us are better at capturing it again when we need it or long for it. Green's play captures perfectly the pains and joys of a relationship perfectly and with such few words that you are amazed of how deep the well of emotions are only after you touch bottom.

St. Croix's monologue is beautifully written and the reader is entranced as they listen to Our New Friend describe the groove and all the awful things that happened to everyone who make it there. Our world is such a violent one, but the groove offers those who met violent ends a chance to see some comfort in these tiny points of light that the fireflies put out. I hope the groove will not be needed in the future, but history has shown us that just isn't likely to be. Do yourself justice by finding solace in this ode to grief.

The old saying goes, "we can't help who we love?" or for that matter, who turns us in in our sexual thoughts. This monologue is a scream and the ending so very funny.

I love the retelling of myths and this is a comedic gem that Dakutis offers up. Even for my love of all things mythological, this is one myth that I was not aware of, the birth of Anteros and how special this birth was between Poseidon and Nerites and also just for the history of the LGBTQ community. I felt like Demeter when she asks "Why don't more of us know about this?" Now, gladly, I do.

This play resonated with me in so many ways. Today is my mom's birthday and her first where she's not here on earth. Kantor talks about being that person who can welcome someone to their afterlife and also being that person who is just looking for that one person to prove the journey on earth was all worth the heartache and troubles faced. I love that Achilles is made wise to this woman's journey that crossed paths with him and now stands before him to put him wise in all that he missed before the arrow pierced that vulnerable spot.

It's always so much fun with the Play of the day is by a writer I know and admire1 Birthday Beer is such a great love story and the perfect first play to read in the new year of 2022. I always admire Floyd's sense of humor and well timed laughs, but it's her way of drawing you into the story so fast and making you care about her characters that will make me keep coming back to her work year after year!