Recommended by Kim E. Ruyle

A hilarious poke in the eye of pretention, political correctness, and the entitlement of theatre personalities. Terrific characters, truly funny dialogue, and boiling conflict. Wonderful!

Ryan Kaminski’s play takes off from the opening pages. Conflict, revenge, suspense, and maybe even a hint of romance. Frank, a therapist who’s spurned by his wife, lets his emotions get the best of him and exercises poor judgment in recruiting one of his patients to exact his revenge. Bit by bit, everything inevitably comes undone. A fast-moving, suspenseful play.

Delightfully profane and creative – the melding of the amicable, almost saintly Ingalls family with the “Bloody Benders,” a family of murderous demons. Lawing delivers this unlikely story in a highly playful and theatrical way. Great!

Annie is thrown into a hot mess when she returns after her mom’s death to help out in the family restaurant. The conflict, secrets, and cream sauce swirl in this well-crafted world and give us some great theatrical moments. The heart of the story is the family bond. And there is perhaps no family bond stronger than one that forms between those to pour their heart and soul into a family business. McClain’s play illustrates this perfectly.

Creative. Suspenseful. And highly theatrical. D. Lee Miller has written a powerful play, a mystery with complex characters and a perplexing puzzle that gets filled in piece by piece but never giving away the full picture until the startling conclusion. Terrific.

Jack Levine spins a tale of loss, collapse, and, ultimately, of redemption. The difficulties faced by Daniel continue to pile up to present an immense mountain from which he slips and begins tumbling out of control. The saving grace for Daniel is the support of loved ones – his wife, best friend, boss, and even his bartender. It’s a heartbreaking story but one that has an ending tinged with hope. Well done.

Who doesn’t love a good arepa? I never thought of them, though, as defensive weapons. This play is so much fun. Clever. Highly theatrical. And a thought-provoking meaningful fable to boot. Oh, the humanity! Oh, the hippopotami!

Come Find Me is taut, intriguing, and suspenseful. Foster’s deft touch with dialog draws us in, keeps us guessing and leaning in to learn the secrets of Anna and Georgie. These two women speak to each other, around each other, and across each other to reveal one memory only to dismantle it and replace it with another and then another. What’s real? What’s not? We learn the answer in the satisfying conclusion. Wonderful!

Wow, this play punched me in the gut. Happiness is one of a series of plays, each a distinct story with distinct characters but all related in that they’re set in the same London apartment overlooking the Thames. In Happiness, we see three siblings. Reminiscing. Laughing. Crying. Bonding. And then a stunning reveal. Really powerful!

Isaac is one of a series of plays, each a distinct story with distinct characters but all set in the same London apartment overlooking the Thames. Smith spins an engaging tale, and Isaac is particularly compelling. The title character is able to break free and take an important step to really begin living life as intended thanks to urging from his alter-ego and his artistic, platonic girlfriend. The internal dialogue that plays out between Me and Him reveals the depth of Isaac’s struggles and gives us a complex, sympathetic character for whom we’re cheering. Excellent.