Recommended by John Busser

Jack Levine picked the perfect genre for a radio play, the Western. Tough talkin' gunfighters vying for the love of a good woman always makes for a fun story. But the radio element can add a special ingredient to the mix as listeners will set their own stage for the conflict. And a sound designer can have a blast coming up with Old West aural flourishes to add to the story. A harmonica here, a horse whinny there, a gunshot or two. And the small meta touches add their own charm as well. Nicely done, Jack.

Would that all holiday movie characters got the kick in the pants that Vivian Lermond's Goonsville folks do. A refreshingly twisted take on sappy, overly sentimental fare. It'll never play on the Hallmark Channel but that's okay. This belongs on the stage.

Playing right into my love of off-kilter plays, Kevin King's The Shoe Kid is a fun little foray into the origin of a weird song that could only be spawned during the season of too much eggnog and rum balls. I loved the drunken conversation buildup which, to the characters, makes sense of sorts even as we wonder where can this possibly go. And it goes right into Psycho territory, which is the perfect capper on this twisted tree.

I loved the rapid-fire banter of a couple on the verge of a nervous breakdown over the Thanksgiving arrangements. The breaking of the dinner table during a rousing round of sex starts things literally with a bang and then the barbs, comments, and jibes fly at warp speed as they try to figure out what to do about it. These two obviously love each other and now Rachel Carnes gives the audience reason to love them too. Really fun stuff.

Rachel Carnes sets a mighty fine table for satirizing how we often come together to not be with each other at all. Her 10 minute play perfectly hits the right notes (as long as those notes don't belong anywhere near each other). With dialogue that sounds more like an actual transcript than made up, she gives us a Thanksgiving dinner where giving thanks is a bad thing any nobody can agree on what they should be grateful for in the first place. A piece of dessert that's hard to swallow in the funniest way.

Mixing a travelogue and a fairy tale (both interesting journey stories) seems like a natural, but funny enough, I haven't read many. Thanks to Jacquelyn Floyd-Priskorn, consider that remedied. I love the way Jacquie's chorus group (with THE best names ever) engage the audience with some improvisation right off the bat, drawing the audience onto their side. From there, we meet wonderful modern interpretations of tried-and-true fairy tale archetypes for a wild ride through modern day Detroit. Now I want Jacquie to write a Cleveland version, a New York version, etc. This left me happy ever after.

I have to say, this was a page turner from the get go. If it was this good just reading it, it would be even better onstage, where actors would have a blast bringing these characters to life. Everyone is a completely distinct personality with such a compelling story to tell. My favorite was poor Kev, who constantly seems about 2 pages behind everybody else. But the dialogue is where this play sings. Kim Ruyle gives some of the best flirtatious dialogue I've seen in a play in a long time. I was completely taken with this piece.

Jacquelyn Floyd-Priskorn always writes such charmers and this one is no exception. Mixing a Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mystery into a kids play works extremely well as the kids try to solve the mystery keeping them from enjoying a cooling swim. Somehow the tall tale involving dragons, unicorns, fish ice cream and even some clever singing and dancing all work together to produce a wonderful play. I love the way some jokes work on the kids level while others are subtle enough to make adults chuckle too. Like a Loony Tunes cartoon (which is the highest praise I know.)

This play was a total blast from beginning to end. I loved the reveal (which I won't reveal here) because it took me by surprise, so why not you too. Fast and funny with a liberal sprinkling of fairy tale references throughout to add to the fun, this would be a terrific addition to any play festival. Christopher Plumridge has written a winner here.

This play by Christopher Plumridge had me from the get go. I have often felt that the characters in my plays dictate where the script goes and FORGOTTEN does this in hilarious fashion. And as we see, the Devil is in the details, as the characters themselves help the writer come up with the elusive ending, even if that ending doesn't bode well for them as characters. The dialogue is quick, the characters all interesting and the play is fun as hell. I would love to see this on its feet.