Recommended by John Busser

Well THAT was satisfying! I was afraid at the start that this would be a case of the blind leading the deaf, neither character realizing what they had in their friendship. But true love DOES finally conquer all in Jacquelyn Priskorn-Floyd's romantic (even if the characters don't seem to realize it) comedy. Dean seems oblivious to Carla, who appears to be regretting her unreturned affection. Isn't that always the way? Nice to see that even a killer rack can't compete with with love in the end.

They say history is written by the winners. Which makes this "fabled" look at the rivalry between two show-biz sisters fascinating in that it tells the story of the creation of the show Gypsy from another point of view. June Havoc may have been less famous than her sister, but her story is in many ways more compelling. Petty jealousies, tantrums and catty dialogue are in great supply here, but all of it comes across as real and justified. The use of multiple actresses to play June at different stages lends this play (and June) tremendous depth.

This reminded me of the type of science Fiction I read in my formative years; quick, full of big ideas and with a fun twist to it. Like a Twilight Zone or Outer Limits episode, I wanted to have Serling or the Control Voice from OL come on at the end and give you a nice little philosophical end to make you think about what you just saw. It will be interesting to see what becomes of this play as we not only explore the ideas of emergent AI, but our place in our planet's future.

Okay, Ken wins NPX today. I just had a laughing fit reading this play that takes the family secrets trope and turns it up to 11, then tells you it really went to 213. Any play that uses the line "I have a tattoo that praises Nickleback." is one that needs to be seen, heard, tasted, smelled and touched. And Ken Preuss proves he's touched all right. In the head. But in the very best way. A solid winner.

Don't run away from this early gem from Jacquie Floyd-Priskorn. Like viewing a soap opera through a funhouse mirror, we meet a couple of lovable clowns for whom one is looking for love in all the wrong places, namely, her audience. Luckily, a real audience WILL fall in love with these clowns, and who knows, maybe true love for this piece will blossom.

Well THAT turned dark quickly! What I thought was going to be a fun little fluff piece turned on a dime and pointed a finger (or arrow in this case) at the misguided idea that some have about the nature of love and who should have it with whom. This piece says some smart things in a fun way. And I don't know why, but I keep thinking of Danny Devito as Cupid. Change my mind.

Every character has a story, and in this fun little piece from Jacquie Floyd-Priskorn, we learn that even a background character deserves her happy ending, and maybe a shampoo and rinse along with it. A clever mashup of Steel Magnolias and Disney princesses with a little 4th wall breaking to spice things up, this would be a hoot for every actress with comedic timing and split ends.

Wow! I loved this piece. Ken's play does what good humor should do. It escalates the situation both logically and yet, unexpectedly, AND it keeps both the "supposed" protagonist of the piece and the audience off balance until the final, perfect payoff. I say "supposed" protagonist, because you think this is Ross' story when all along, it was really Rachel's. Her straight-man type reactions to his lame humorous setups is a thing of beauty once you realize she is the REAL master comic here. This would be great to see staged.

At turns touching and gut-wrenching, Emily Hageman's monologue shows how even the most broken of human beings can still have empathy for another being, even if it's not a HUMAN being. A slow reveal turns what began as an apology into a horrifying confession. A man hurt by society and his own brain chemistry can still muster up the emotional connection for the most innocent of creatures, a dog. It speaks well of Emily's writing that the character Jason can still make us long for what he wants, for someone to take can of his only friend. Superbly done.

Even at the end of the world, the most important thing to us is a connection to another human being. Scott Sickles brings this into sharp focus by showing us the bond between two men in the midst of a global catastrophe. Rather than spend time, trying to fix things, or escape, the two men share a few last minutes of intimacy. One willing, the other not, but who recognizes the need of the other and does his best to comfort his friend, it really is a story of how important human interaction is, and should be.