Recommended by Ken Love

"End of life" plays and stories do not always have to feel like the "end of life". I've heard comic writers and comedians tell of getting their best ideas at funerals and funeral homes. Thank you, Anastasia Wild, for sharing "Cremains to Be Seen" with us, yet another end-of-life tale that goes down with ease and is so desperately needed in life and in the theater. And the fact that the piece is well written doesn't hurt, either.

As I read Anastasia Wild's "Portals", I was reminded of a Star Trek episode, "The City On the Edge of Forever" in which Kirk, Spock & McCoy enter a "portal" that transports them to the 1930's. Good episode! Yet if only it had had the wit and the heart of Ms Wild's lovely written futuristic tale. If only! I beautiful piece that demands a live production.

Like the poetry of Louise Gluck and Elizabeth Bishop, Nora Louise Syran's "Ellida" is a haunting, lyrical monologue of a woman who, in point of fact, is fighting for her life. Like Ibsen's "The Lady From the Sea", the titular character seems tortured by the choices she must make. This piece could easily be broken into verse and read or spoken as a poem. Beautifully done!

I was raised in the Black Pentacostal church, from which I can only harbor bad memories. Then I read Fabiola R. Decius' "Black Jesus" and I was soon able to laugh at it all. Like Christopher Durang's "Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You", this plays focuses on the absurdity of religion, namely Christianity. Like Mr. Durang's play, Ms Decius' work is light comedy, satire and - ultimately - quite dangerous. Which is the kind of theater that I love!

The best thing about Michael Towers' "Target Practice" is the dialogue. It stings, engages and elicits well earned laughter. A play is truly good when, at the completion, you only wish to know more about the characters, who were so dimensioned and well-drawn that they seemed as familiar as the teaches and coaches we knew in high school. Nicely done, Mr. Towers!

Mike Byham's "The Well" gives us two characters spending the last few moments of life on earth, enthralled by one another, yet distant enought to weave a compelling end-of-days story that the couple seems to revel in as they tell it. The audience will not want the world or this story to end for wishing ever so fervently to spend more time with these people. Heartbreaking, yet wondrous.

Dark. Dystopian. And all to relevent and fitting for our times. Mildred Inez Lewis' "Louisiana Shoal" is a parable on choices made in the extreme. Yes, the ending is tragic due to the utter inevitability of it all. I missed seeing this piece in performance. Yet I, at least, had the good fortune to have read the play. Well done, Mildred!

A memory play, a tortured love story. "Once Upon a Smorgasbord" is another play by Miranda Jonte in which I heard music as I read it. Sweet music which wasn't twee or "sentimental". I felt the humor and pain expressed by the main character. I even felt a gentle early winter chill that comes just at the end of fall. And the tempting smell of food was well expressed in the writing. A lovely work!

What's said . . . what is unsaid . . . what shouldn't be said . . . in polite company. Even sisters have to step very, very carefully amongst themselves. Like the haulting dialogue that runs throughout the play, the three sisters seem to have an ardent, near urgent need to express themselves politically. Yet hold back for fear of inflicting pain. Ironically, that's where the humor lies. Definitely a play for our troubled times.

What begins as a hilarious send-up of death soon transitions into heartfelt yet biting social commentary. Of course, what ultimately gives this piece its momentum is vivid characterization. And the memory play device (expressed through the prologue and epilogue) only add to the plays appeal. Mr. Norkin has given us a theatrical gem on par with Herb Gardner's "Conversations With My Father". Nicely done, Mr. Norkin!