Recommended by John Busser

Jacquie Floyd's pointed monologue is so on target here. How many of us are just opening our eyes to our own misdeeds or transgressions against others because we don't see their needs above our own? How many give in to gratification of our immediate wants because we don't see any reason NOT to indulge? And then, when we see that others have done the same, we accuse, and wag our fingers, and leap onto our soapboxes and tell everyone to wake up... but then we get hungry again. What a terrific monologue.

Sometimes we can get so caught up in denying our own beauty that we become entrapped in a labyrinth of our own making. Scott Sickles shows us one such individual. Someone who has been told countless times of their brutishness and bestial nature. How else could a minotaur respond? All it takes is someone reaching out to help lead us out of the maze. A wonderful parable here.

As someone who is somewhat skeptical of the concept of "faith healing" I am nevertheless intrigued by this play by Rachel Feeny-Williams. While faith that a higher power can heal may not work for me, I do believe that there is a Mind/Body connection that can enhance the body's ability to fight disease. Is that what's going on here? I don't know, but I still played into the story element that there was something behind Alice's seeming capacity for making people better. I liked this way more than I thought I would. Terrific stuff Rachel.

Equally fascinating and unnerving, this play looks at future workplace abuse in a way that uses the casualness of it as a blunt instrument. There are some real present-day parallels here in how power twists to put some at a disadvantage before they've even sat down. I read this twice because I wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything. Charles Dent has written a winner here.

Oh this is my favorite thing I've read today! Here I was thinking this would be a jolly 'ol light romantic comedy of errors and bad luck. I smiled and chuckled my way through Jackie Floyd's plays as I almost always do only to reach that last page and go "OOOOOOOHHHHH SNAP!" (And no, I never say "Oh snap!" But this time I did.) I LOVED the ending. Another winner from a playwright who never disappoints me.

Good God, this is disturbing. Watching adults manipulate, justify and ultimately get back at someone through the abduction of a child is completely reprehensible. But the fact that this is based on real events means that this should be seen all the more. Though this is, for all intents, meant to be an artistic entertainment, I am glad there is no polishing of the story, presenting it with a sense of grotesque inevitability. Joey is headed for some dark times, and we, the audience, need to be there to get him through it.

I HIGHLY recommend this tension-filled play by Joe Nelms. A sense of dread hangs over the play as we watch one individual alter the lives of those around them by lying in a trial. The responsibility for this action becomes a metaphorical millstone around the officers neck. Trying to justify their action only seems to make it worse. Then a late night visit from, well, we're not quite sure, lays out the stakes. Change your ways, or there WILL be consequences. Told as a sort of fable, this play has a real-world relevancy that is hard to beat.

One way to mine comedy from a subject is to look at it from different perspectives. Taking this tactic, Rachel Feeny-Williams gives us a quirky example by looking at the simple word "oh" through the eyes of a classroom of students who, at first, don't quite get it. But as the play moves along they, and we the audience start to see possibilities. Having a play teach and amuse doesn't always work, but here it does, "Oh-kay?"

Oh My GOD! A Warren Zevon inspired play! I never would have thought of it. I LOVED all the sly and not-so-sly references sprinkled throughout. One of our greatest songwriters gets a play about him that not once mentions him, but I loved it all! I'm going to listen to some Transverse City today. C.S.Jones, you've made me an excitable boy!

Love shows up in the strangest places and it's not as alien a concept as some might think. C.S. Jones gives us as plausible (and as freaking entertaining) an explanation for crop circles as any I've ever heard. There's an abundance of great humor here as well (WILBUR: Hmmm. Is not W I B X 93 a good sobriquet? PEGGY: If you’re a radio station.) I laughed a number of times out loud and I'd love to see this staged somewhere, preferably closer to the suburbs...