Recommended by John Busser

02.25.26 - A person's name can be the most significant aspect of their life. It's not just identity, it's also character and purpose. Nora Louise Syran shows in just a few pages of text how important it can and should be. At a time when identity is so fraught with suspicion and persecution, this monologue shows a character who desperately clings to his, and shows WHY we should cling to ours no matter what.

02.25.26 - Loss of a loved one, be it person or animal, can be as bleak as knowing there are still 6 more weeks of a long winter. Matthew Weaver understands though that we can get past that loss, hang onto the memories of when those lost were still here, and find a way to get through the cold and the dark. As gently charming as this starts, there is some emotional depth here being explored. But explored in a way that warms us up.

02.25.26 - I loved the staging of this sweetly funny look at two friends taking the first steps toward a relationship at two different points along the way. Great roles for both men in their youth AND in their twilight years make this compelling stuff. Sam Heyman gives us an emotional, well-earned payoff as well. So satisfying.

02.25.26 - If Simone shot Frank where I THINK she shot him, then the title isn't the only thing Erstwhile about this clever romp through 1940's sensibilities and 2020's sexual politics. Chris Soucy hits all the right notes for hardboiled detective stories but filters them though our present day lens and wrings quite a few laughs out of it.

02.25.26 - Oh man, I loved the idea here. Most ghost stories of this type usually have the ghost saying "you need to move on" but here, the spirit is the needy one! A great twist here, with wonderful dialogue, and yet another twist I don't want to spoil here (I WILL say it comes from the new guy in the mix). Paul Donnelly has written a corker here. Terrific fun.

02.23.26 - There's a tendency in society to dismiss those who are said to have outlived their usefulness. It's a completely foolish notion of course. Everyone is capable of contributing to the greater good, as Robert Weibezahl adeptly points out here with Margaret, retired but not content to sit on the sidelines when she knows there are terrible wrongs to be righted. This was riveting to read and I would imagine no one in an audience would feel she was "unremarkable."

02.23.26 - This was one minute of perfection. Evan Baughfman brings us a new flavor of what is already a lot people's go-to treat but somehow makews it even more special. Adding to the magic is that, everyone who tries it tastes something different. Kind of how art affects us. Everyone experiences it differently depending on what your past brings to the fore. A tasty one-minute play.

02.20.26 - Oh Janice ain't havin' it, that's for sure. This funny meet-cute (or maybe meet-CUT is better since I feel like that's what Janice would like to do to Jacobson) from Micaele Johnson is full of amusing observations of the war of the sexes on the corporate battlefield. Janice is up to the task of putting womanizer Jacobson in his place but really would rather be anywhere else. But as long as it's being foist upon her, into battle she goes. Get your blue cheese dip ready. Janice is.

02.20.26 - In war the casualties don't always stop on the battlefield. Some soldiers recover while others... This is brought to the fore in Micaele Johnson's grim tale about the grisly aftermath of a battle which hasn't ended for the two soldiers in this play. While one seems beyond help, the other continues to feel his presence. This is the stuff of good drama, and I think it should be seen by an audience.

02.19.26 - That was devastating! I loved this play by Josh Gauthier and I want audiences to see this. It's haunting and timely and I can't say enough good things about it. The dialogue just moves along at the perfect pace and becomes more interesting as it goes. This is the type of art that tells me why totalitarians will never win in the long run. Darkly beautiful.