Recommended by Jack Levine

DAN TAUBE gives all of us something to ponder in his ten-minute play, “Miss Shakespeare”. Some scholars think Shakespeare, the man, didn’t actually write the plays he authored. But nobody, up to now, to my knowledge, supposed Shakespeare was a woman. Shakespeare’s plays have so much depth, a keen sense of the emotions of different types of people, that the plays are loved by many even 400 plus years later. I enjoyed this play and recommend it be read and performed. It will definitely have the audience talking about it after the performance.

RAND HIGBEE takes us to “The Last Ballgame”, when the famed announcer plans to retire after the last out. In life, we sometimes limit our goals by our age. “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks”. But we should always keep doing what we love as long as we’re mentally and physically able to do it. Just being old is not a prescription for giving up on our passions. By the way, I enjoyed the ‘play-by-play’.

LEE R. LAWING certainly has an interesting short piece. “Name a Cockroach, Get Your Revenge” is one way to “make things right” on Valentine Day. I like a weird and humorous play, and Lee R. Lacing has a fun short play.

MARILYN OLLETT’s play, “Death of Stand Up”, reminded me of the time, just a few years ago, when I did standup comedy and wrote my ‘jokes’. Everyone in the audience has an opinion on what is or is not funny. Well, I recommend you read this one-minute piece, because you will laugh.

TONY VALE has written a hilariously outrageous, madcap, crazy funny play. I was smiling, giggling, and laughing out loud through the short play. “The Challenge” is fun and enjoyable. Good job!

D LEE MILLER shows us that loneliness can make an elderly person, or even younger, susceptible to a scam. “The Bill A Short Play” is a tale of what happens far too often. We should always be careful. As they say, “if it’s too good to be true, it probably is”. As always, D LEE MILLER gives us a play worth reading and watching on stage.

ELISABETH GIFFIN SPECKMAN’s “4 Words of Advice” deserves to be put on my wall, to be looked at each day, because it is a wonderful list of what to do, think, and feel. Elizabeth Giffin Speckman has a lot to say in a very few words, four at a time. I recommend you read and enjoy this work.

JOHN MABEY, once again, hits a Grand Slam with a dark comedy about the pulls-and-tugs of trying to make a relationship work on a most appropriate day, Valentine’s Day. “Love Sucks” is filled with humor with a bit of advice for the forlorn: Choose your partner well or you may find yourself being sucked dry of emotion and other things. Nice job! I would love to see this play performed!

DANA HALL takes two well-known fairy-tale characters from Peter Pan, and creates an interesting dark comedy with a powerful ending. “Tink in the Clink” is bold, illuminating, and beautifully done in showing a side heretofore never seen or imagined of Tinkerbell, at least by me.

JACQUELYN FLOYD-PRISKORN writes some of the best plays I have had the pleasure to read, “The Backyard Stonehenge Chronicles” is a romantic comedy about relationships between a married couple and an elderly aunt and her relative/ caretaker. Married couples always need to work out their marital problems. In this delightful play, the choice of building a “Stonehenge” may be unique, but it gets to showing love, understanding, empathy, and effort. There is also love shown in the care to one’s elderly relative, which is loving and without any self-serving greed. I so loved this play!