Recommended by John Busser

Oh man! I loved this piece by Morey Norkin. It hits all the right targets for me. It's laugh out loud funny! It's poignant. It's about family. There are great old jokes, new jokes, clever jokes, corny jokes. It's got it all. And the characters are so perfectly drawn here. They feel like real people. I highly recommend someone staging this. I'd go see it. Can't get a better endorsement than that...

A heartbreaking exchange where the fireworks in question are fired from the characters themselves. Big changes are coming for Tony, and now Gabe offers him a connection that is more than just friendship. Tony is being pulled in multiple directions and the play makes us wonder which way he'll ultimately go. The dialogue is pitch perfect and the stakes are more important by play's end. A wonderful piece.

Any port in a storm (or in this case, any laundry room) as the characters in Hannah Lee DeFrates short, darkly comic horror play shows. Being trapped with a fellow plague doctor, Caraway is thrown in with Meadowlark seemingly to live out a prisoner's nightmare. But the two decide to escape their own way, through their imaginations. At least until the next load is done. There's wit, heartache and even a baby of sorts. Would love to see an audience reaction to this.

OUCH! I didn't see that coming! Rachel Feeny-Williams really knows how to set you going one way and then pull the rug out from under you. I mean that in a the best possible way. After a lifetime of trying to know the score, a woman tries to do the right thing while the thing she fears is closer than she might think. An intriguing setup and heart-breaking resolution.

I love a good buddy comedy and Philip Middleton Williams presents us with a classic one here. Tony and Alex don't like the circumstances that brought them to where they are and like each other even less. But slowly, through wonderful dialogue and careful revealing along the way, they come to not only understand each other, but respect and connect as well. This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Take a big old bite out of this dark, dark chocolate comedy by Monica Cross. Go on, you won't regret it. I laughed out loud when I learned why Kim was feeling guilty. You will too. Like any good dessert, it'll leave you wanting more.

I'd love to see how this would be staged as the play presents characters in a height-challenged setting. A meet cute about making connections and how the sky is the limit (if even THAT is). Seeing how the characters here transcend as they ascend, the sky may not even be the limit.

The thing I like best about Evan Baughfman's pieces are the way he mixes comedy and horror in a way that, even though you KNOW it's horror, you never see it coming. I was suckered in by Lux's seemingly-harmless talk about ghost lights and actors, that I didn't see the evil machinations going on, until it was too late. Well, too late for Casey and Parker anyway. A ghost story for the theater OR the campfire.

Charles Scott Jones fashions a darkly comic look at a man named Henry and his three ex-wives as they discuss Henry's comings and goings (literally) while he bathes and serenades them from the tub. Wicked dialogue and an appropriate ending (for Henry that is) make this a terrific play for the audience.

I was on the edge of my seat reading this short tale of biological devastation and betrayal. Rachel Feeny-Williams has created a play about the various ways mankind deals with the same event. Some are trying to do the right thing, others the absolute opposite, just as in real life. The twists come fast and change the dynamic in thrilling ways. The end is perfect in that every audience member can manufacture their own outcome. It would be interesting to hear a post-play discussion on what people thought happened. I'll bet it would be as fascinating as the play itself.