Recommended by Adam Richter

"Funny, dark and tender" can be used to describe so many of Scott Sickles' works, but "Wheel of Fortune Reversed" excels so well at all three. This masterful comedy-drama gives us a man who is afraid of death yet determined to confront it. He does so in unexpected ways, and the ending is likewise not at all how you think a confrontation with the Grim Reaper will end.
A beautiful play about life's final moments. Bravo!

Not all ghosts are there to haunt. Zelly's dead husband stays with her long after he's gone to help her cope with the loss of him, and guide her to a new life. Grief is a universal feeling that humans have been trying to wrestle as long as there have been humans. But Miranda Jonte finds something new to say about it, and she does so beautifully.

"The Great Tinsel War of 1979" is a laugh-out-loud comedy about the conflict with the highest stakes: holiday traditions. Told as a Ken Burns-style mockumentary, the play exposes the raw nerves of two families, telling their stories with deadly seriousness and hilarious results.

Christopher Soucy reminds us that maybe we shouldn't hew to tradition so rigidly. I'd love to see this in a lineup of holiday shorts. The cast would have a ball with this play.

Sam Heyman takes the convention of having a narrator, plays with it, tosses it in the air, smashes it with a hammer and rebuilds it in this funny, funny play. For the man behind the curtain, everything rides on Portnoy committing a mundane, everyday act. But when Carl inserts himself into the story, much to Portnoy's dismay, the consequences are world-changing.

This is a fun play that would be a treat for audiences and actors.

Bravo! And gesundheit!

Some people think Christmas has gotten too commercial. Those heathens never tried to write a Christmas (sorry — HOLIDAY) jingle for a septic tank company.
PHILIP MIDDLETON WILLIAMS once again hits it out of the park with this short and hilarious satire of ad writers trying to make the holidays a little greener for their clients. Absolutely brilliant.

Such a beautiful play about second chances — for dogs and for people. The action is perfectly paced, as is the evolution of the characters. Straton Rushing has given us a terrific piece that is uplifting without seeming the least bit treacly. Bravo!

When I started re-watching "Murder, She Wrote" with my family during the pandemic, I wondered if anyone else remembered the show. Clearly, Bruce Karp does, because he nails this funny, bloody parody perfectly. This is a brilliant and laugh-out-loud-funny homage to that long-running Angela Lansbury series that will have everyone looking askance at Jessica the next time she wraps up a murder case a little too neatly.

A powerful, vivid solo piece that tackles violence, bloodshed and cruelty in an arresting way. The language is as lyrical as it is chilling, and the Max Koh's stage directions for this piece will have audiences thinking about the play long after it's over.
This is a brilliant monologue that needs to be produced.

Ghosts exist to remind us of regrets we have in life. Charles Scott Jones takes this conceit to tell a larger story about the connections we have with the people in our lives, and the tragic results when those ties fray. "All Hallows Eve" is a funny and moving play that will have you thinking about it long after the curtain goes down.

"The Alchemist's Gambit" is a wonderfully silly, over-the-top romp that's a perfect Halloween two-hander for any actors. Heyman keeps the dialogue fast and sharp as the traveler, strapped to a table, has to negotiate their way out of an unexpected brain operation by the matricidal (but not wholly unethical) Dr. Hasenpfeffer. I love this sendup of old horror movies, but it really had me at the introduction of a "comically large handsaw." Bravo!