Recommended by Kim E. Ruyle

Guide Me gives us a well-defined problem – Rich and Clara and Jack in a lopsided love triangle that’s begging to be sorted out, but it’s not going to be easy. Smith gives us lots of complications to chew on related to love, fidelity, marriage, parenthood, and health. The dialogue is crisp, the characters engaging, and the suspense is palpable. I believe this play is one of a trilogy or episodes, and I’m going to the next installment straightaway. I’m hooked!

Much more than a dry history lesson or a discourse on nihilism, Seeking Nietzsche is a cleverly constructed and engaging story that took me on a journey through Neitzche’s life and relationships and on multiple side trips: the Tristan chord, Dionysus, Zarathustra, Schopenhauer, and more. Seeking Nietzsche is a tour de force!

There aren’t many doors, only two, and they’re on caravans (vacation travel trailers). But they are occasionally slammed, and like any good slamming doors farce, this play has lots of wacky hijinks, confusion about who’s doing what with whom, bawdy humor, and budding romance. Secrets, Sex, and Over 60 has some wildly fun roles for mature actors who are (mostly) enjoying life. We need more plays like this. Wonderful!

The talented, prolific Jacquie Floyd-Priskorn has created a terrific play for young people. Dotty and her family have their Michigan vacation interrupted by mystery of the Dragon of Lake Orion, but Dotty, determined sleuth that she is, chases the mystery while engaging the entire town in a theatrical search for the truth. This play has fun roles, singing, choreography, and lots of one-liners that will delight performers and actors alike.

You know the genre – the Hallmark genre – e.g., an ambitious woman dispatched by her malevolent boss to leave the big city and her stick-in-the-mud fiancé to return to her hometown to convert a children’s hospital to a meatpacking plant. Instead, she rediscovers her humble roots and her high school boyfriend, a gentle Matthew McConaughey type. Ambitious woman rekindles her romance, saves the hospital, and becomes a storyteller for sick children. Yes, you know the genre. So does Vivian Lermond, and in this short play, she turns it on its ear. Fabulous!

A fun, fast-moving send up of a day-in-the-life at a dysfunctional software firm. On his first day in a new job, poor Jeff encounters wacky coworkers who malinger, stuff themselves with donuts, and grumble their way through a corporate restructuring. In the end, Jeff does more than survive, but we can’t decide whether to cheer or feel sorry for him. Great!

The title of this play, Etched in Stone, implies a stable, rock-solid permanence like the “Welcome” inscription intended for Fanny’s headstone. The story rocks our emotions as the characters take us on a ride from present to past to future and experience sadness, joy, sweetness, bitterness, anger, and hope. This is a wonderful tale of a woman and man of advanced age who bond in such a touching way that it will be etched in your mind and heart.

A poignant tale of two WW2 airmen bonding over concern for comrades, relief at seeing them land safely, and a miracle in the form of a blackbird egg that survives entanglement in an airplane and produces a chick inexplicably named “Robin.” Who better to nurture a fledgling than a loving father and bird aficionado? Terrific.

I love this! Fergus from Fife and Phyllis from Philly, on a rocky Maine beach, get off to an equally rocky start in this delightful meet cute. It’s charming to see how Fergus is able to ever so gently ruffle her feathers and convince Phyllis to spread her wings and, hopefully, take flight. Thank you, Vivian, for giving us these mature characters!

Oh, my god. This is really hilarious. A fast moving, cheeky, romp. Chris did his research – nothing superficial about Cathy’s knowledge of and love for coffee. This is about as damn near perfect a 10-minute play as you’re likely to ever read and, if fortunate, to see!