Recommended by John Busser

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.

Not all scars are physical ones and they can cut much deeper. Marjorie Bicknell has written a terrific monologue for an older actress that just crackles with memory triggers for audience members. Who among us doesn't have their own accounts of the unfairness of being 9 in a world where parents can be uncaring and siblings a pain in more ways than one? I loved this piece.

D.Lee Miller shows us that some people filter life just a little too much through their prejudices and can't just see (or in this case, hear) how beauty can exist if you'd just let it. No one sets out to do art (here, a live concert performance) to provoke jealousy, but leave it to people to find a way to bring it to the table. This monologue shows the tightrope that all artists walk when they put it out there. If only audience members acted more like a net instead of a concrete floor.

We all need someone we can connect with and it doesn't matter if you are organic or inorganic in this powerful short piece by Jeff Soesbe. The characters each give the other a reason to try to survive even as all may be lost. And it seems that guilt, which most times is a bad thing, can be a wonderful motivator. I really enjoyed this one.

Megan Schumacher has written a very short and sweet play about dealing with those pesky night monsters under the bed. I would love to see the individual productions take on each monster as there is plenty of room for interpretation. REALLY nice twist at the end. Such appropriate music too.

I absolutely LOVED this awkward conversation and kick myself for not having thought of it already. Although after reading this, there's no way I could have done this the justice that John Bavoso has. We need more Bible followups like this to provide a counterpoint to the sometimes gruesome events of the "holy" book. Get to work John!

Rachel Feeny-Williams delivers both laughs and social commentary in equal measure in this short play about a future without alcohol that gets one for the road. Once again, science comes through in a pinch, but really, should it have? It would be fun to see staged as the mayhem of a stiff one is unleashed upon an unsuspecting humanity. Give it a shot. (And a beer.)

Evan Baughfman hits just the right notes as he spins a one minute piece about that old t-shirt you used to wear all the time, and why did that ever stop? As the T says, when asked if it ever brought joy, "Experiencing life alongside you has always brought me mine!" I think we all have that special article of clothing we just can't part with and it was comforting to see Dylan find a new reason to slip the old T back on again. There's new life in the Old T.