Recommended by Rand Higbee

Philip Middleton Williams has his own unique and highly effective style and it is on full display in "A Good Year." A young teacher lands his dream job but finds that it comes with a challenge or two. Or three. When trouble rears its head does he do the right thing or the convenient thing? Can he look the other way for a friend, or would that violate his own ethical standards? All this in the midst of a love triangle (or is it a love quadrangle?) he finds himself in. A fine piece by Mr. Williams.

Short & sweet. A quick little play that will have all pet lovers nodding in agreement.

In "Cabana Boy" Mr. Williams has given us a quick, breezy romantic comedy for our modern-day world. The plot centers around a love triangle...or maybe it's a love quadrangle? Read and find out for yourself! There are good acting opportunities for four people and any scene designer would delight at the possibilities.

"Fatty" Arbuckle was a towering figure in the early days of cinema and his trial(s) for manslaughter shook the industry like nothing had before. In dramatizing these events, Tamar Shai Bolkvadze does not call her play "The Trials of Fatty Arbuckle," but chooses to use the name of the victim instead. A clever decision that speaks volumes, because the play will certainly remind you of the old adage that the more things seem to change, the more they stay the same. I definitely want to see a full production of this.

Sometimes Greg Romero's plays are a bit of a puzzle. Is this play about a young woman who is stuck in an arctic blizzard? A play about a young woman arguing with her boyfriend? Or maybe it's a play about a polar bear? When all of these elements finally come together and you figure it out, it's one powerful moment. Well done, Greg!

Two young people stop at a Creation Museum and get a bite to eat at the Crucifixin's Café. As they marvel at the oddities surrounding them, they get into a discussion about religious beliefs, vegetarianism and the like. Playwright Sean Keeley deftly mixes humor with real world concerns to come up with a play that is both fun and thoughtful.

A young woman, Jesalyn, is trying to put together the jigsaw puzzle of her life by meeting a mysterious person from her past. Tamar Shai Bolkvadze reveals just enough to let you understand just enough. You are left like the young Jesalyn herself: Knowing a few things but yearning to know so much more.

Having written a short "Life Raft" type play myself recently, I was curious to read this one by Eric Moore. Two women are on a life raft in the middle of the ocean for their second (or is it the third?) day. They are running out of supplies. What could be worse? How about a sea monster that starts to slam into their boat? Moore does a nice job here of setting up an interesting premise and then taking it to a place you're not expecting.

"Commencement" (or should it really be entitled "Promotion?") is about two grandmothers coming together to watch their granddaughter graduate from fifth grade. Divorce, however, has turned what should be a happy occasion into one full of awkwardness. On the surface this is a simple play with simple dialogue, but there is a great deal going on just beneath that surface. It's a quick read. Quit reading my recommendation and read this play!

I have read plays about pets. And I have read plays about the end of the world. I don't believe I have read a play before about facing the end of the world with our pets before. That is what Marguerite Scott has done here. A woman and her dog face what could be doomsday together, but neither can quite understand what the other is thinking. They simply know that they need each other.