Recommended by John Busser

We get more intrigue, more spying, more punny names, callbacks (loved the Joe King reference), an Abbott and Costello "Who's on First?" language runaround. This play has it all as far as I'm concerned. I can't wait to see where Justin ends up next.

How could I not go for a play where every name is it's own brilliant joke in itself? Juan Bad Dude is sublime hilarity. I love wordplay and Joe Swenson excels at it. A series of these plays (I see there are 4 and counting) would not be the worst way to spend an evening at the theater.

A disturbing dark comic look at Mothers, daughters and the ties that bind. Samantha Marchant's creepy short play slowly increases the dread factor while the dialogue pace seems to increase until that final nightmarish end. This would be great to see alongside a bunch of other horror-themed plays.

Bruce Karp describes this as a screwball comedy and he couldn't be more right. I'd love to see someone produce this and have the actors try to emulate the old time style with the dialogue patterns and rhythms. Hell, dress all the actors in back and white costumes and lean into the concept. I loved the fast-paced writing, the unflappable character of Pfeffer and the general zaniness of the premise and it's resolution. This was great fun.

That was tough to see through to the end, but important to see it through nonetheless. As someone who lost both parents (one very early on), it brought up memories of how I responded and how it affected me. I wished I'd done some things differently, but like the daughter and granddaughter here, we feel powerless and confused in how to deal with a loved one who is dying. This one will stay with me for awhile.

The best thing about the Bear tales are how much you want these to be true. They're just so darned entertaining! I want to see more Bear adventures on the world stage, like a furry Zelig. Christopher Plumridge, are you game? I'm sure the Bear is...

Wow! Shades of Orson Welles. Staging a possible nuclear attack while a play is going on and having actors as audience members would be something to see. How many real audience members would be whipping out their phones? More than a few I'd think. I flew through this terrific script by Caitlin Strom-Martin wondering where the hell it could go. And the most audacious part? That end, where everything SEEMS to be getting back to normal. But then...

John Bavoso has come up with a damn funny explanation for all those mystery girlfriends that seemingly disappear when someone comes out of the closet. The Canadian aspect of it is brilliant. But this play also points out that nobody should be defined by anyone else. That's smart writing and it's why I heartily recommend this play.

Whether on stage or on film, the prospect of being physically intimate in front of other people is one of the most frightening things a person can endure. You don't want to look, act, smell or taste bad to your partner, let alone an audience who, let's face it, are going to be as critical as if they were going over the Zapruder film.

Scott Sickles deftly shows us in a gentle comedic way, the dance we do when we're about to do that thing we do called "doing it". And it's done with style and a light touch. Bravo.

I love the fact that, just like real people do, the conversation here about upset stomachs and overindulging on booze is not really what these two are conversing about. We all hide our intentions at times, and this is both clear (to us) and unclear (to them). Debbie Lamedman captures the tone of such conversations perfectly, making the ordinary into something a little EXTRA-ordinary. Terrific writing.