Recommended by John Busser

"Life is art" Dana Hall tells us in this peek into the lives of two friends, one of whom may be profiting off the misery of the other. But sometimes that art is messy, unpleasant and yet relatable. The two characters in this play need each other. It's only in the telling that we see one may need the other for a less-than-friendly purpose. The dialogue rings true here and while I was hoping for a happier resolution, the one I got feels more truthful and human.

Interesting to think that it takes playacting to relive a real event more honestly than it went the first time around. Jack Levine gives us an intriguing premise to play with. Three people with a complicated past decide to relive it onstage (and in front of both the play's high school reunion audience but the real life audience as well, giving it meta layers to contend with. Great stuff Jack!

Skewering its target with precision, Emily Hageman takes a subject that NO man should ever have anything derogatory to say about it and shows how that's exactly what a lot of men do anyway because let's face it, most of us are dolts to begin with. The humor is spot on (and no, that wasn't a pun) and her depiction of sportsball is hilarious. Hopefully someone will stage this as that's how it should be.

Like a cross between the Marx Brothers, Looney Tunes, one too many trips on a Tilt-A-Whirl, strobe lights in a haunted house and multiple fever dreams, Jacquelyn Floyd-Priskorn gives us a talk show for the TikTok crowd. Full of fast talking, physical comedy, going off script, copious drinking, hippopotamuses, barking chickens and braver than they ought to be audience members, this script moves a thousand miles an hour and is powered by high octane laughs. I loved how frenetic it is. It's magic (oooh aaah)

Okay, I was prepared for a Jacquie Floyd play to be bonkers, but I had no idea HOW bonkers it would be. It goes from zero to infinity in sixty seconds. Or close enough. With fun highlights such as the echo provided by Torry (cuz the school doesn't have a proper sound system), to the crack janitorial staff of Joe, Jerry and Shirley (nyuk nyuk nyuk), there is no end to the weirdly wonderful fun this play offers for both cast and audience alike. his play should be done a million times. Okay, a BILLION times. That's better.

A wonderful little piece about standing up for yourself (even if it took you getting help from a guardian angel). The title did not prepare me for what this charming little play turned out to be. Teaching the importance of not just letting life's bullies bury you under their bullsh*t, Rachel Feeny-Williams gives us some terrific roles for women all-too-often the target. This piece says some important things.

Hitting all the right notes here, Philip Middleton Williams has a play that needs no rewriting. It's smart and biting the right people in the right places. Nothing drives me crazier than "helpful" feedback where those feeding back tell you they don't want to rewrite your play and then proceed to do just that. It would not surprise me to learn this scenario Williams has penned isn't the God's Honest Truth either. Fun stuff.

I have been kicking myself for not reading this epic farce sooner than now. But boy, am I glad I did. Like viewing a guided tour through British literature by someone who drank way more DayQuil than he should have, this is an inspired romp with plenty of laughs along with some pretty bloody acts of violence. As always though, it's peppered by Doug DeVita's spot-on dialogue and wonderful characters. An ensemble piece for sure, if gives a talented bunch of actors multiple roles to chew on as surely as a meat pie. A winner!

The fear of flying is universal and so relatable in this 10 minute piece by Marj O'Neill-Butler, but as we see, it can be overcome with the right friends to help you out. At times funny and horrifying, this play presents us with some real stakes for Judy. Thank God her friends are there to bolster her courage, even if it means running roughshod over her so she doesn't have time to dwell on her fears. And they do it in comic style. A fun piece with great roles for older actresses.

A great blending of drama and comic farce, Which Way to the Beach is a terrific play about family dynamics and mistaken identity. Philip Middleton Williams has assembled a nicely diverse cast of characters, some of whom are refreshingly against type (the cop who so loves his son, he treats potential suitors as suspects to be interrogated, to make sure they are good enough). As the confusion about who's really who builds, the play ramps up in hilarious fashion. But it also says something about acceptance and being realistic about it as well. Great stuff!