Recommended by Cherielyn Ferguson

Select The Grotto if your theatre wants to program a play that features four great parts for women, explores how our culture views and shapes women, and provides an empowering alternative to that often-oppressive molding of women's lives. PLUS, the play offers a nonstop stream of laughs that never descend to one-liners because the humor's always grounded in these well-developed characters. This is a welcome addition to the list of female-centered plays that community and other theatres rely on.

Roger is sure his long-deceased mother will finally get the picture: she's really and truly dead and it's time to move on. But Ma AND Roger's girlfriend have another idea, one that provides a funny and satisfying twist at the end. This is a great short play with a meaty role for an older actress as well as two more well-developed roles for mature actors.
Two of the best lines:
ROGER: I said, you’re dead, Ma! Deceased! Gone! Expired! Extinct! You’re... dead!
MA: Are you threatening me, Roger?

Shades of "What We Do in the Shadows"! If you enjoy Nandor and Guillermo, you'll love this witty exploration of what it means to be the hunted and the hunter. A vampire and his hunter trade ideas about their lives, ambitions, and disappointments. In the end decisions are made that change everything for these two characters. Check out this play if you'd got a Halloween-themed program coming up-- it will be a worthy addition to the evening. Boo!

Corrector asks a big question: will a refugee agree to erase everything about his past if that's the price required to remain in what seems a safe haven? Maximillian Gill's play takes you in one direction and you're sure you know where it's going. But you don't. I was engaged at every moment of this play as it asks its big question of us. Corrector speaks to where we find ourselves today: who are we and who is "the other"? Corrector shows that we can be more frightening than that "other".

This play is delightful AND meaningful. The play's specificity is wonderful as it draws a line between the perfect, original bagel and what we might encounter today-- a fluffy raisin bagel, which is the worst. The Great Bagel Smuggle offers three excellent roles for actors ready to bite into a great script. There are too many good lines to list them all, but one of the best is: "If it’s too easy, it’s not a bagel—it’s a doughnut with an identity crisis."

There's plenty to savor in this very fun and entertaining play: Lady Olympia's celebrating her 125th birthday; her elderly maid is in a reciprocated love affair with Lady O's 30-year-old grandson; and the birthday girl's stoner son and his loopy wife arrive by parachute. But wait, there's more! Read the play to discover what lies ahead for this group of distinct and rich characters. Then produce it and accept the delighted appreciation of your audience.

There are times when we’re certain we can lead some misguided soul in the right direction. Apparently that happens even in the frog world, as shown in James Perry’s short and fun play A Chorus of Frogs. Ribbit, Curoak, and Lilly remind us that sometimes the misguided soul is . . . us. Put this in a program of animal-themed plays and you’ve got the amphibian world more than covered. And they're really in a "lek"-- look it up!

If only Boss McGreedy was pure fantasy. Unfortunately, we have seen the likes of him in the past, and now again in the present. This play offers chilling parallels to current events, even as it entertains with a chase that takes us from New York to Cuba to Spain and back as Boss tries to escape this fate. Central Works’ production did the play well-deserved justice, engaging the audience at every turn. If you’re looking for topical programming, you can’t do better than Boss McGreedy.

I had the pleasure of reading Curtain Call for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival. In it, group of high school students learn something unexpected about their deceased drama teacher as the result of a séance. How will the students process this revelation and how does it change them? It’s a great piece for teen-aged actors, offering them a chance to play themselves realistically in a situation that's heightened and dramatic. Each character is unique and the dialog is specific. Read and recommend this play to a discerning drama teacher, then sit back and enjoy. #BAPF47

I had the good fortune to read this play for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival. It’s immensely entertaining even as it covers some serious ground. Among its themes is our need to overcome the expectations of others in order to reach acceptance of ourselves. Along the way there's fire! There are explosions! There's hospitalization and IV drips! As titled by the playwright, it's a "Filipino-American Teleserye For The Stage". It offers 13 terrific roles for six actors and it would be fantastic onstage. I’ll be keeping an eye out, hoping a theatre near me snaps it up. #BAPF47