Recommended by Kim E. Ruyle

Dueling suitors reveal the depths of their foolishness when they meet at Cassie’s door. Their differing approaches to wooing Cassie are both funny, but Jack’s sock puppet, Stinky, takes the cake – it’s hilarious.

The tagline says it all: The home was already wrecked. Dysfunctional families are a perennial source of inspiration for writers of drama, and Kay has tapped into it to give us an Oklahoma family dealing with the aftermath of a tornado. By stripping away earthly possessions, the tornado had exposed the dysfunction, the infidelity and bitterness. It seems all is lost, but credit Mickey for refusing to take the easy way out. Maybe there's hope this family can rise like a Phoenix from the ashes.

The Ms. Sterling Sliver pageant – what a great premise! It provides a hilarious, zany romp for seven mature females and one old geezer. This is great fun for cast and audience alike. All the acts are great, but the Lolly and Dolly bit is priceless. Terrific.

Is Francie really being stalked by the Yale-educated son of circus performers? Is she seriously discussing a potential wedding to said stalker with Wanda? O’Neill-Butler’s Stalking is good in so many ways. It’s creepy. It’s funny. And it’s surprising. Well done.

In Outside, Elana Gartner captures it: the neighborhood, the time period, the language of grade-schoolers, and their relationships. But most of all, she captures Mel’s struggles with school and her anguish. For Mel, everything is easy outside; it’s everything else that’s hard. It’s very touching, beautiful the way Tracy and Quentin eventually go to her aid. There’s wonderful substance and truth in Outside.

A Second Chance to Say Goodbye really gave me an appreciation of John Busser’s range as a playwright. Here, he gives us a tender, moving story that caused me to sit quietly after reading to reflect. And this poignant story is neatly tied up with a well-earned twist. All in all, excellent.

Gearheart writes with authority about the Army, Iraq, Wisconsin, and a fat sergeant. Ten days to lose ten pounds if he wants to avoid a demotion, but his weight isn’t the biggest problem for Sergeant Knight. He’s a man who’s lost his way. Enter Ahmad, an Iraqi man, a self-styled philosopher who’s seen war from the other side. In a cold motel room, they bond. Their dialogue, their vulnerability, their pain – it’s all so real and raw and thoroughly captivating. Bravo!

Don’t you just love to dive into a script and know by the end of the first page that you’re in capable hands? It’s always immediately evident with the work of Scott Sickles. He writes dialogue and characters steeped in authenticity. In The Battlements, he takes us to a different world with dazzling theatricality and gives us a budding love story between two strangers who are united by their immersion in a new land but also by their similar past traumas. This play is moving. It’s beautiful.

Whole Against the Sky – the title comes from a Rainer Maria Rilke quote that references infinite distances that can exist even between people living side by side. Donnelly illustrates it so well in this play with sharply drawn characters, authentic dialogue, and a gripping portrayal of the pain afflicting the Rheingold family. It’s real and raw and well executed.

Characters come to life to confront an author and his agent in this insightful meta play. They strip the covers from the writing process and raise thorny questions. What's the source of our ideas? Is anything we write truly original? Do we have the permission to write what we want? Does our identity handcuff us so we’re limited in what we write? To what extent are our characters autobiographical? Who are we writing for? As Mira says, “Impact trumps intent.” Those are chilling words. Well done.