Recommended by John Busser

Like a visit to your favorite hangout crossed with the Twilight Zone. A terrific little horror piece where the horror is all offstage, but plainly making its way into the main thrust of the story. We don't NEED to see the gruesome acts (or AX in this case), and the sense of dread that builds as the patrons of this midnight cafe tell you all you need to know. Young Jenny is truly screwed no matter what kind of safe haven this appears to be. And the audience is better off for it.

Touching and sad, yet somehow life-affirming at the same time. A truly wonderful piece showing how there is always a way to be a part of the arts. I was genuinely moved by this story of a young man who becomes an important part of the play in a way he'll never know. DC Cathro is an amazing storyteller. Read this play to see what I mean.

Morris Cody is the latest in a wonderful list of wacky creations by Joe Swenson. This is a spy series that should not be kept undercover, even as Justin Thyme tries desperately to do so. Once again, the jokes fly fast and furious and the only thing I love more than zipping through one of these scripts is when I hit upon a line and have to stop, go back, read it again, and marvel at the wordplay. "Yeah. No shit, Yuri Nating." was one such gem. These are terrific fun.

And now we get Siri thrown into the Siriness... um, silliness. These plays are like an episode of 30 Rock in that the jokes are shotgunned out continuously. Didn't like a joke? Wait literally half a second, there are 6 more coming. I love the frenetic pace of these plays by Joe Swenson. I wish more comedies packed the joke per minute style of these ones.

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...