Recommended by D. Lee Miller

POOR PAIGE is a well-written and probably all-too-well-recognized story by Debra Cole. As an Amelia, I can't understand how she didn't haul off and hit Paige. (I wouldn't have, but still..) There are so many Paige's in this world and POOR PAIGE shows us how this has come to be - and the boundaries of friendship. Well done.

A sensual leavetaking of winter - Poetic and precise - You'll feel the welcoming of spring as sure as the wonderful writer.

A death requires a summation of sorts - of the relationship you had. This BFF has given the narrator a mass of loose ends to tie together - and they don't tie together the same way they may have in life - A fascinating take on a close friendship.

Erase your thoughts of Dickens or Dylan Thomas! This is a Lermond UK Christmas and she has set a table that won't soon be forgotten! Tilly welcomes a full house for a typical British family holiday - her brother, a stranger, a relative and new girlfriend. An unspoken family secret is revealed to these different but oh, so recognizable characters. Feast upon a few red herrings and appreciate Christmas anew! So well written and you'll enjoy casting it, too. Kudos, Lermond.

Midge has a thing or two to say about the most important of topics, love. Sometimes there is no way of reaching youth on the topic of sex and love but she knows you have to try. This good hearted woman wants to make a difference. Well done!

I have been wanting to see The Sugar Ridge Rag by Philip Middleton Williams and finally got to read this beautiful and truthful play. Having lived through this period, I rarely read or see a play that gets it - That understands life in the 60's: the complex in the simplicity, and the simplicity in the complex. Middleton Williams has always written beautiful and sensitive relationship plays but this, written with the background of ragtime and 1960's America, sears your heart. Yes, I did cry. And I laughed at the goodheartedness of these characters. Should be seen nationwide.

Lee Lawing has chosen to write about a nightmare so many face now in our country. In BLOOD RED STATE, a woman has had an abortion. Thank you for writing this Lawing: it makes it more real than so many realize. This is not an extreme situation - but an of-happening one - that is turned into an extreme situation. Well done, Lawing.

What a beautiful, difficult and hopeful monologue by Scott Sickles... Creating in the story of a non-binary character, a story that truly pains many more -- Saying goodbye and being seen for who you are... You might be reminded of your own goodbyes to loved ones -- and your own wishes to be seen -- and question who you may not have seen before. Simply beautiful.

There's so much I like about VIRGINS by Scott Sickles. Not only is this a breakthrough regarding intimacy between two sisters and the men in their lives, but it also is a breakthrough between the sisters themselves. Wonderfully actable and funny roles -- and dramatic -- and a story that has become real among a thousand cliches. Sickles, once again, gets these characters so right. A good addition to any festival or evening of plays.

The Conversation, by Linda Berndt, is a sore reminder of the details of a conversation we all wish at times to have but never goes as we want. Berndt captures the pain and hope of speaking to a past lover where questions linger... Nicely done.