Recommended by Marcia Eppich-Harris

What a fun, meta retelling of the Captain Hook and Smee narrative! The comic potential is tremendous, and would keep an audience in stitches. But there are big questions too! What does it mean? Who is in control? Big questions in a small play make me happy. Love it!

Randy Hunt's play is a hilarious look at the things you don't expect to happen in marriage, and yet, somehow a long-term relationship is full of surprises, no matter how much you plan. I loved seeing the couple's idiosyncrasies, and how the therapist addresses them. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em! Super comic potential in this! Very funny!

Failing in front of a crowd is never pleasant, but when it's about a major life decision, it's got to be mortifying. One of the things I like about this play is how it shows the lack of privacy one can have in today's world. Not just at a baseball game, but in the afterlife online -- Youtube, social media, and other online sites have the ability to make our pain and humiliation one Google away. The play is comic, but has big questions within it. Nothing to do but go on, I guess. But it's tough! Great play!

A great representation of life in covid. This play has an honesty that absolutely stabs you with a fork. I really felt for the characters — and even the off-stage kids. Everyone was going crazy. No one knew what to do. It’s a good thing Ditty wrote about it. Loved it.

Fantasy meets reality in Karina Cochran's piece. Period Dragon shows the imaginings of pre-teen girls, who are psyching themselves up for their futures. Whether discussing periods, losing your virginity, or planning your whole life, girls at age 11 are some of the most fascinating creatures on earth. And then there are dragons.... haha! Lots of comic potential for the characters in this, including the realistic and hilarious age-specific self-absorption. Loved it!

A modern twist on Much Ado about Nothing, Not But In Mistaking shows how very easy it would be for Hero's storyline in MAAN to play out in the modern world. There are differences, of course, in DeFrates's tale, too. One of the things I enjoyed was the character "literally everyone else," which in my mind could be played as a sort of voice over chorus. That would be hilarious to witness! I quite liked this and think it has great comic potential for the actors!

I love this so much. Baseball as a metaphor is something I’ve been thinking about for a long time, and Rick Park’s short monologue about the goal being to leave home and triumphantly return to it is so insightful and moving. I would love to see this performed. The “oh shit” at the end is ambiguous enough that it could be interpreted as a home run, a foul ball, a ground out, or a caught fly ball, all with different meanings for the monologue. The inability to find home, though, is what it reflected to me. LOVE this.

Southbank Theatre Company’s production of Natural Shocks blew away Indianapolis audiences. I’m a big fan of this show, and love how the conversation the main character has with the audience is basically like the internal conversation every abused person has with society but is never allowed to say. The masks we wear — the unreliability of the perfection we present — are on display here. What’s shocking about this play is that we live it every day in America. Brilliant.

The title alone is hilarious, but for those who know a little something about the ancient world, this play is a hoot! There are tons of inside jokes, and yet, I think even general audiences would respond to the hilarity of the ancient capitalist salesman. I loved this! So much comic potential for the stage!!

Steve Martin is a genius at short plays -- always surprising me with the power in his pieces. This short piece is so relatable for anyone who grew up within an organized religion and tried really hard to make it work. But then, at some point, it starts to feel like an abusive relationship, and you have to save yourself. I SO got this. I felt it in my bones. Steve Martin does it again! Wow!