Recommended by Mike Byham

What we have here is a failure to communicate. In the end though, a sweet tale with the outcome we want. But we’re left asking what was missed? What possible misfortune did the lost time due to lack of fortitude on both parts cause? This smart piece says a lot with a few words. Well done.

Rapid-fire comic brilliance! Norkin and Busser are at the top of their funny, punny game with BETTER CALL SHOENSTEIN. We need more of this. I truly want to live in this world! Thanks for the laughs.

Rapid-fire comic brilliance! Norkin and Busser are at the top of their funny, punny game with BETTER CALL SHOENSTEIN. We need more of this. I truly want to live in this world! Thanks for the laughs.

FIRST LIGHT is a wonderful reminder of our transience in life's stages. We can clearly see and feel the effect that connections have on us as we move on from one stage to the next - as well as what we cling to and hold dear. The family drama and natural dialogue create a relatable setting and there's a killer monologue at the end. Very effective and well done. Would love to see this staged.

Yikes! I thought I was reading a cute rom-com until I wasn't. Deb Cole's DREAM HOUSE will evoke many emotions (mainly anger and frustration) while leaving us questioning our concept of justifiable action when unintended consequences of a poorly-written law allow continued harm to the victimized. I rarely get angry about anything, but Deb has crafted a scenario that provides such a wholly unredeemable and dastardly character that I was actually swearing out loud (SOL?) at my computer screen. If this play was staged in the 1800's, some poor actor wouldn't make it out of the theatre alive. Well done.

SECOND BANANA is a nostalgic romp through high school as viewed through the eyes of a high school football coach, his son and all the accompanying requisite character tropes. What's different about this piece is the level of care provided in the development of each character - all of whom the audience will cheer for regardless of where they fall on the social scale. Alles wisely allows the parents to be parents and the kids to expose their struggles in a manner that doesn't devolve into simple stereotypes. I love this play! Someone please produce this!

Aly Kantor hits all the right notes with BEES. "You plant the seeds. You water the seeds. You’re supposed to get a tomato." I don't know why this line got to me, but it did. Perhaps it's the expectations we set for ourselves and others and then ... life happens. When these expectations are set through the lens of a multi-generational divide, finding common ground to connect is an unexpected and welcome surprise. I'd love to know more about these people and the journey of their relationship - that's an outcome of a really well-written story.

I thought I knew where SACRIFICE was heading and then I obviously didn't. Jacqui Floyd-Priskorn crafts a short horror story with humor that glides along until you're jerked into the uncanny alleyway of the macabre frequented by Lovecraft or Poe. Instant classic. So much fun.

I meant to read a little of Ken Love’s MOONLIGHT OVER L.A. before bed but I couldn’t stop reading until I was finished. It’s a compelling story using the full set of familiar and effective noir devices - narrative asides from our doomed yet charismatic protagonist, beautiful and dangerous women, guns and alcohol, all fueled by the sweet sounds of jazz. It’s a world of wondrous escapism that teeters somewhere in the imagination between gritty reality and black and white Humphrey Bogart films. Beautifully done. I would absolutely pay to see this performed.

I love this concept. So creative. Chris Plumridge tells not one but two different, interesting stories in two different time periods in a place where supposedly nothing happened. Brilliant. I see a full series of “nothing happening” tales in this same location. Perhaps the Bear will visit?