Recommended by John Busser

Talk about a great setup and payoff! Aly Kantor's FISH TANK does what a great play should do. It hooks you in right from the start, but builds on its premise in an unexpected way. I thought I knew where this was going and I absolutely did NOT! And boy, did it succeed brilliantly. I don't want to give anything away here as she play itself should tell its tale. Would LOVE to see this staged on Zoom

The setting here is just as important as what's being said, as two friends are about to move on from each other as friends often do. Equating life as a journey with quarters placed on the track, signifying bumps along the way was a nicely subtle metaphor. There is a quiet dignity in the characters here and would be wonderful to see someone get a chance to say these words.

I'm always assured of a roller coaster ride with any Jacquie Floyd script, and this one is no exception. Fast-paced jokes right out of a screwball comedy, plenty of outrageous characters with not a dud in the bunch, and the inclusion of audience members with very clever ways to help them keep up their end of the shenanigans, make this a crowd pleaser. There's never a dull moment here. But then again, it's a Jacquie script. She doesn't know that word.

A very quirky little romantic comedy about hair color, coping with stress, a dodgy economy and crab cakes. I like the banter between the two main characters and really thought it was going another way when it turned into territory I wasn't expecting. What a great surprise. I hope audiences like it as much as I did.

From the great character names to the screwball-comedy like pace, this Watergate parody is a spicy mix of hilarious jokes, pointed jabs at reporters, cover-ups and chili cook-offs that should win top prize. I laughed throughout and kept thinking this would be a perfect satire for the stage. And any play that has doubling and tripling of roles for actors has to be fun just watching them have to create these zany (yes, I said zany) characters. Terrific!

Absolutely and ludicrously brilliant. Every aspect of a play gets their due in this fast-as-lightning piece with a joke-per-line ratio that's hard to beat. What a great opener or closer to a festival this would be. I loved it.

Evan Baughfman knows how to creep you out in the simplest of ways. Here it's with a child's drawing and a few well-chosen words. This is horror with a maximum payout with minimum story. And there's a gruesome gallows humor to it all as well. I love this play and would really love to see it performed!

There is a palpable sense of anticipation built up in this short play by Rachel Feeny-Williams that feels so real, you'd think this was based on a true story. From the highs of learning a play is accepted, through the rush of meetings, castings and rehearsals, to the lows of supposed hopes being dashed when expectations don't match the reality, Rachel shows it all in a roller coaster of events. Bringing moments of support and sanity, the character of Tom provides an audience surrogate that lets the audience become a small part of the story. This is really good stuff!

This happened to me (at least the first part.) I shaved my beard once and the girl I was dating burst into tears when she saw me. So I totally related to this piece. But then in the second half, things take a mean turn. And this is totally believable stuff. DC Cathro has struck a nerve here that resonates. Social media is a trigger waiting to be pulled and this play illuminates that in no uncertain terms. And you have to wonder, who's the real baby here?

Who knew Christmas might be coming this way... Marj O'Neill-Butler gives us a true present in this darkly funny look at what goes on with a Mr and Mrs looking for who's nice and who's really naughty and what getting on THAT list means. I would love to see this play stuffed in between a bunch of holiday cheery pieces and watch the audience's faces when they catch on to what's really happening around the North Pole.