Recommended by Doug DeVita

This haunting play, in which Eteya Trinidad takes more than a few well-aimed and well-deserved hammer blows to toxic masculinity, is a moving, artfully atmospheric testament to the power of friendship, even when the friends in question are at odds with each other. Thelxi and Chim, the two beautifully written central characters, offer so many opportunities for two actresses to explore; I’d love to watch them come to life in performance, and I’d love to see them take on the next chapter in their lives.

They say “Man plans, God laughs.” Well… in Brendan Bourque-Sheil’s “The Book of Maggie,” God plans and we all laugh. And laugh, and laugh, and laugh, and not just at the way Bourque-Sheil brilliantly flips the script on well-worn religious tropes, but also with the sheer glee that comes with reading something so smart, so witty, and yes, so funny. Wildly theatrical, I can only imagine how much fun this would be to see staged. Just to watch and listen to the actors having a field day with this text would be worth twice the price of admission.

There is not one false note in this scathingly witty, furiously savage love letter to a contemporary life in the theatre. Magical, realistic, hilarious, deeply angry – Cubria fires on all cylinders here, hitting bullseyes with every epigrammatic gem (“It’s basically porn for progressives” is just one of the jaw-droppingly funny lines); the total is more than the sum of its parts, and it’s a winner on all counts.

A beautifully surreal dream of a short play; lighter than air yet deeply emotional, it floats on hope and wonder, and the ending is just perfect.

A fast-moving, jazzy fugue of a play, David Rigano plays with three couples, mixing and matching them throughout until each gets what they may (or may not) deserve. Fresh, exciting, and filled with pointedly acid (and funny) observations about relationships, this is a wonderful showcase for actors and directors alike; if staged and performed as breathlessly as it is written it should be quite the audience pleaser as well.

What is it about desperate car salesmen named Jerry, and hand-jobs, and guns, and suicide, and…

Busser’s shameless salesman in this shamelessly hilarious short may be one of his funniest creations yet, and the play itself… I dare anyone not to laugh within 5 seconds and keep laughing throughout. Wonderful. Oh, and did I mention shameless?

One can’t help but smile, and then giggle, and then laugh out loud when the twist is revealed in this fizzy and fun encounter between a nun and a vicar when they meet at that ubiquitous park bench. Charming, touching, and a fitting conclusion to this series of charming, touching short plays.

As its title implies, A PLEASURE is a pleasure, a sweet, unassuming little love-story-in-the-making. Smith’s two lonely characters are so deftly and lovingly drawn one can’t help rooting for them throughout, and by the end we’re quietly cheering. In between the joyful tears. Beautiful.

A delightful entry in Smith’s “Bench Plays” series, this caper-in-the-making has the most wonderful twist yet. Truly edge-of-your-bench fun!

Another in Paul Smith’s excellent, conversational bench plays; you may think you see the ending coming but believe me you won’t. Gobsmacking. And yet the aftermath… it’s going to be a beautiful thing.