Recommended by Ken Love

I know a monologue is well written when - while reading - I'm able to actually experience it. And hear it. And long to see it performed by a capable, engaging actress. When "Between Hellgate and Long Island Sound" finally gets a production, I hope that the playwright, Nora Louise Syran, will give me a heads up! Kudos!

Like "Riders to the Sea" by John Millington Synge, Jean Paul Sartre's "No Exit", and the poetry of Federico Garcia Lorca & even Emily Dickinson, Maggie Smith's "Winchester Geese" is a play that takes a hard, nearly uncompromising look at the finality and tragedy of death. While the conundrum of death has been tackled and overdone by playwrights, novelists and poets ad infinitum, Ms Smith, fortunately, has the nerve and talent to add something unique to this well-worn topic. A must-read! And a must-see! Nicely done, Maggie!

Like the movie "Fatal Attraction", James Perry's "Manslayer" is a snapshot of every married man's nightmare. The one difference is that the film lacks Mr. Perry's customary wit. Nicely done!

If this play were put into a time capsule, then sent into the distant future, readers and audiences would get a perfect glimpse into the dilemma of 21st century youth in America. As a 64 year old 20th century Bogart-and-Bacall kind of guy - though I enjoy the immersion into this new and different world peopled with interesting, complex and humanistic characters - I do find myself asking many of the same questions dogging the minds of the kids in this play, Yet never with as much wit and finesse as Mr. Perry!

A plethora of plays have been written naturalistically. But there are few plays, in my opinion, that fit the absolute need to have their stories told in such a way. "First Light" is a play written to be presented for what it is - story and characters stripped to their essentials. If there is, in fact, a trace of metaphor, it's toward the plays end, where the main character speaks of "mildew taking its time . . . eventually growing over everything". Even memories. Even ghosts.

Yes, theater is at its best when it gives us dimensioned characters. And complex, engaging stories. Yet there are times when theater can be used as a forum for engaging, riveting commentary. Robert J. LeBlanc's "Fallout or a Ballad of Peace and David Hasselhoff" is such a work, a rare type of effort that we do not see enough of on stage, and that demands a very specific & unique talent. This is a work that needs to be seen. In real time!

Like the best crime fiction from the great pulps of the 1930's & 1940's, Ryan Kaminski's "Souvenirs" gave me a perverse thrill from beginning to end. John D. MacDonald, Richard Stark and - yes - the esteemed Cornel Woolrich would definitely approve and recommend. All that's missing is a live production!

Surrealism meets hyper-realism meets dark, absurdist comedy. Throw in generous doses of high drama and you have more than enough for a visceral, engaging evening of theater. Of course, I was limited to a mere reading. And I can only imagine the impact of a live performace. With a nod to Sam Shepard & Caryl Churchill, "trauma dumping" is a play from the off-ramp of the mainstream. And we can never have enough of its type. Well done, Mr. Donley!

This play is so brutally honest, the characters so maddeningly complex, and the pain so deeply felt that it was - at times - difficult to read. This is the third act of my life. I've experienced much and have read and seen (and written) a great many plays. Yet every so often, a playwright comes along who not only surprises me, but offers a transcendent experience with his/her/their work. Kate McMorran's "Akrasia" held me in its desperate grip from beginning to end. An excellent play! Kudos!

Ten minutes of flight, humor, and transcendance. Do the moments take place in real time . . . or in the afterlife? Certainly, things to be pondered by readers and the audience. "Joy Ride" is yet another example of Arianna Rose' all-embracing talent. Nicely done!