Recommended by John Busser

An interesting, if not terrifying concept, that the government could enforce arranged marriages on people who have no interest in each other. While it's not unheard of, the prospect for disaster seems SO much higher than those who enter into it willingly. Brenton Kniess at least shows us that, while the idea is a rocky road indeed, there's always a chance that love will find a smoother way. Hope can still shine on the gloomiest of days. Thanks for giving us a happily ever after Brenton.

I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop in this horror thriller by Collin Smith, and boy, does it ever. But not, I'm happy to say, it quite the way I (and the characters) thought it would. There's a fine line between entertainment and torture (ask any Christian or lion) and here we see the idea of an immersive experience taken to it's bloody end. The list of possible "interactions" allowed here is pretty horrendous, but, and Stewart here points out, that's what you signed up for. So get ready, ticket buyers. The show is about to begin.

Shades of the Twilight Zone here with an outlaw on the run, a blizzard of a storm, and an old man showing... well, not kindness exactly, but a weird sort of charity. Maybe not the kind Johnny Kidd was expecting, but under the circumstances here, the only kind that will matter. I really enjoyed the atmosphere Jonny Blduc creates on the stage here, and would love to see this produced somewhere. Somewhere a little warmer, preferably.

Memory is a funny thing. It elicits a powerful response deep in our brains. You'd think that would make it easier to retain them. But it doesn't. Details fade, events become (ironically) just a memory, if only metaphorically. David Hansen captures this is such a simple, yet effective way. Touching and heartfelt.

A terrific monologue that plays into that old chestnut "Keeps your friends close and your enemies closer" (At least until after the funeral) Lindsey Brown has written a comically morbid rant for a woman who's had quite enough of her other half, and now spends her days plotting and planning and generally getting satisfaction in imagining how she'd pull it off. And the audience gets to delight in every evil thought Paula has with this piece. And maybe giving a few disgruntled folks some... ideas.

I know some people like to kill the arts programs, but this is ridiculous. Which may be the point in Jack McCleland's absurdly dark (and well named) play about taking this philosophy to dangerous lengths. And here's the most insidious part. The enemy uses one of our own against us. It's devilishly fiendish and yet, so perfect. A twisted, comic nightmare that I'd love to see performed.

I'm a sucker for detective stories and this one does not disappoint. With equal nods to Holmes, Poirot and Miss Marple (even Batman gets a mention, as does a certain Detective Pi - don't think I didn't notice), there's murder afoot here and Rachel's Detective Jane Pierot and trusty but lax assistant Sandra are on the case. This is good old-fashioned fun for the stage, and I hope someone produces this terrific comic mystery. Even the twist is one I didn't see coming. Expect the unexpected with a Rachel Feeny-Williams play.

Opposites make for strange bedfellows, don't they? Richard Weill gives us an unlikely pair of characters at odds with each other, and strangely enough, they harmonize perfectly. At least to the comedy club owner. While we get to see a painfully unfunny comic, he sees comic gold due to the mixture of a heckler. A comedy that is both unfunny (intended) and hilarious (also intended) at the same time.

I literally spat out "Oh God!" on the last line of this 1 minute play. There is a LOT going on in this play despite there only being 5 sentences spoken. A lifetime of experience, happiness, sorrow, joy, sadness, it's all there if you know how to see it. We learn just as much from what they don't say. Neil Radtke knows how to tell a full story in less than a page. Gut-wrenching.

This is the kind of play that makes me happy I can write but sad that I didn't write THIS play. With perfectly realized terrible characters, amazingly awful motivations, deliciously stupid exposition and more, Neil Radtke has vomited up a brilliant send-up of all of playwriting's worst tendencies, but without any of the dry heaves. And he does it in such a charming way, you can't help but be entertained. I laughed out loud numerous times during this. Well done, sir.