Recommended by John Busser

The "What If?" in storytelling is so compelling. Choices made can't be undone, but maybe a chance encounter will allow one to indulge in looking back and trying a redo.... or not. Most of us may have been faced with our own moment to try again. The characters here react one way. How would you?

And that last line is explosive in its implications for furthering the story. Intriguing stuff.

I loved this play. It's sci-fi, it's got a strange concept I can totally buy into, and two characters that show just how hard it is to adhere to rules of contact and communication. It would be easy for the characters to screw up what they are attempting, and while I can't speak for anyone else, I found myself silently rooting for Gulati to succeed. You will too.

I think this is one of the most satisfying twist endings I've ever read. The build up, the horror that pervades throughout and the ENORMOUS sense of relief when the protagonist finds out what is going on had me grinning from ear to ear. I loved this piece, but only because it had me so completely bamboozled. And considering what the ending was, it was sooooooo appropriate as the answer. I would give it away. It's too perfect an ending.

Scott Sickles manages to make his characters both ones you love to see and love to hate. Not all of them, but the right ones. When one manipulative sonofabitch gets his comeuppance, you want to cheer the delicious way it happens. I do feel sorry for one character though: Harvey, who has to utter not one, but two loooooong Latin phrases, surely a torture in itself. Luckily, he makes it through unscathed. Spooky, yet fun as hell.

Oh My God! Someone please produce this! Evan Baughfman has written a perfect one minute play with such a fun hook, that people will want to see it just for the novelty of the actor of actress with the talent to pull it off. A winner for sure.

A first sentence is supposed to grab you and make you want to read more. Viraj Shriwardhankar accomplishes that and more here. A monologue that treads where few, if any, have ever gone. And what a delightfully weird path it weaves. A (pardon the pun) coming of age via a math quiz, a firefighters calendar and a trip to the American Museum of Natural History sounds almost wholesome. Well guess again buddy. Viraj don't play that game. As you'll see to hilarious affect.

I'm a sucker for Sci-fi stories AND stories where someone gets their comeuppance. This one has both. Although I really wanted to see Mark become more devolved than he already was, this was in some ways more satisfying. Sarah isn't the doormat she seemed and held Mark's fate in her hands. Her showing mercy shows how evolved she is. The setup is intriguing, the characters nicely drawn and Rachel Feeny-Williams has another winner here.

It's hard to recommend a play about a child bing shot in a drive-by, but it would be criminal not to. Deb Cole has written a heart-breaking short piece that focuses on the collateral damage of just such a shooting. A family becomes nearby victims as they must face the aftermath of a tragedy. The physical disarray of the set paints a vivid picture, but the characters experiencing bewilderment, grief and hatred shows much more how the effects change those on the periphery as well. This is so well done. A well deserved recommendation.

WOW! Just... wow! Something titled "Stork Patrol" sounds innocuous and goofy. This is neither of those things. It's deeply dark, wickedly funny and as pointed as a pricker bush. Deb Cole has taken the hottest of hot-bed issues today and shown the hypocrisy that so many people are guilty of for their willingness to take away a woman's right to choose. I wouldn't want to be the audience member who gleefully embraces the overturn of Roe v Wade while watching this. I'd like to be next to them though, so I can watch them squirm.

This is just the kind of play I love to read, and I'll bet it would be even better to see staged. The humor is fast and furious, the characters all portrayed perfectly. This would be wonderful for child actors and don't (pardon the pun) kid yourself. This play isn't only for children. Adults could benefit from the message too.