Recommended by Doug DeVita

What sets this comedy apart from other dude relationship comedies is Malone's winning way with a quip, his ability to find truthful humor in emotional pain, and the extremely likable (warts and all) characters he creates. A thoughtful, funny (sometimes heartbreakingly so), and smart piece.

For those of us who've lived, breathed, and dined on Community Theatre, the archetypes are ripe for satire, and Jacuelyn Floyd-Priskorn skewers them all – delightfully and lovingly – in this funny send up of a support group of non-professional performers who are in the trenches, surviving the wars being played out weekly in church basements, community halls, or basically anywhere there's a stage, a few lights, and dreams of glory.

Another beautiful Clyde and Dan play from Williams. The relationship between this father and son is not without its thorns, but the genuine love between them is presented so truthfully, and so artlessly one can't help but be caught up in their dance, and perhaps be just a tad envious of them despite their problems.

Hilarious piece about the rebranding of eternal damnation and Faustian Bargaining, with an interesting twist. A fun option for a short play festival with two great roles.

As if the title alone isn't provocative enough, every line in this play – including the stage directions – is a heady gem. Perfectly crafted and timed, it just gets funnier and funnier as it ratchets up the stakes with farcical precision, and by the end one is left gasping for breath from non-stop laughter, and marveling at the audacious skill with which Malone created this outrageously smart, entertaining, over-the-top comedy. Absolutely wonderful!

The closing lines of this intriguing, thought-provoking play say it all: " ‘Messy.’ And that’s good? That’s what we earned." And Mabey definitely dives into the messiness of sexual identity, and with wit, compassion, and a ton of very funny, pithy lines, makes sharp points about the need to label, or if there's even a need to label at all. Swift and fluid, it's a play that asks more questions than it can answer, and that's what makes it linger.

Two fathers, one black, one white, trying so hard to get it right, and they do – but in ways they never anticipated. Mabey's taut, swift ten-minute play lingers long after one has read it, mainly because it so well written, and it makes its points with sharp precision. Intelligent and engaging, it should be embraced by short play festivals everywhere.

Wistful, touching, and ultimately heartbreaking, this short look into how the past haunts the present (and vice versa) is a lovely showcase for older performers. And my dog Max is mentioned. So of course I'm flattered. (And Rinkel, he says you owe him a bloobry and a carrot.)

A haunting, lovely, lyrical work, filled with tension, intelligence, wit, and complex, beautifully realized characters whose choices are not easy, are not always the right ones, but who win our hearts because they are so incredibly alive and human. A rich tapestry of emotional truths, Censabella's "Paradise" is beautiful.

This is a wonderfully ripping work! A "me too" play disguising itself as a paean to Victorian thrillers, the parallels to the modern era are made strongly, but lightly, and never become preachy. Milton's delicious use of language, her astutely convoluted plotting, her engagingly prickly characters, and her sly sense of humor keep this highly theatrical piece racing at a pulse-quickening pace. I loved every word, and would just LOVE to see this staged! It's a thrilling comic thriller!