Recommended by Lee R. Lawing

Such a beautiful ode to love and friendship. Cross's "On Robots and Raindrops" touches a nerve so eloquently. Losing one's life partner is one of those defining moments a lot of us experience, and Cross is able to keep sentimentality at bay while we take this small journey of awakening with Billy. Friends come in all shapes and sizes, and it's such a good reminder that we should all be on the lookout each and every day for those when they may appear to share a poem or a small life moment.

Another gem by Hageman and one that has her wit, humor and heart all wrapped in such a beautiful ode to love and friendship and that oh so powerful force, hope. I am always moved by anything Hageman writes, but I am also inspired to be a better writer.

Conlon's Everything But Dead surprises and delights with its 10 pages. You are thrown to a drama quickly and neatly, but the outcome still surprises and has such a satisfactory feeling to it that you might just cheer when the curtain comes down!

What a beautiful monologue filled with such passion and heart. Like any Weaver writing, it has the hallmark humor that endears the reader and viewer instantly, but here we get to know more of the writer that has inspired my work, so having this list only points me those touchstones that have inspired me from word one!

This plays flies by in no time, but you find yourself holding your breath as you read it just because you are so invested in the urgency to find this lost woman in the ice and snow. And to find out it's based on a real life event made it even more fascinating. Carbajal injects great humor into this horror and what I like best about this work is that it could have gone into a number of different directions and any one of those I would have gladly followed.

Karp's play makes me think back on all those "spirit animals" I had growing up in the guise of Hollywood stars from the 1930s and those special Broadway cast albums that kept me company in my bedroom for so much of my school days. The thing I like best about this play is how it shows that all of use can still find things to learn and teach no matter our age if we just open our hearts and minds to it.

No matter the play, or setting or circumstance, Wyndham pulls out all the stops. Ruff! Ruff! Ruff! is no different. Any child would find delight in acting this out, and any audience enraptured from beginning to end.

Creepy and so well executed! Secrets upon secrets turn this Gothic story into a small masterpiece. Sickles works such wonder with a familiar story, but keeps reader and audience in suspense and best of all, surprised until the very end. I love a good mystery and this is one of the best that I've had the pleasure to read.

There's nothing better than a good farce and spoof and William does this one right. By the end of the play, I felt like I had ridden the best Star Wars ride at Disneyland and was ready for my Fast-Pass to kick into overdrive.

What a treat and such a well crafted and funny play about the process of writing, as well as the process of finding love or our attempts at finding it. I think the seven deadly sins are all accounted for here as two people spar on stage over their attempt at helping a playwright with a new play, but the sharp Eve-like wit of Williams finds its claw marks in every word. This would be a treat to have at any festival!