Recommended by Jack Levine

DANIEL PRILLAMAN has an amazing talent for writing fascinating works. In “Bereavement Leave”, you will be captivated from the beginning to the end with a fast-moving, witty, and thought provoking play. There are so many things to love about this play. Buckle your seatbelt, stay vigilant, lock your door - but it won’t help. This play is a ‘must-read’ and ‘must-see’.

RACHAEL CARNES’s monologue can shake you to your core. We sometimes think of a tragedy in terms of how many died, what caused it, and what can be done to prevent it from happening again. But, human lives were lost; real people are dead; and families and friends are forever affected. A father shows his pain and we can feel it. “A Safe Place” really brings out the true life tragedy of it all. A marvelous piece of work!

MEL NIEVES’ s play dramatically brings out the horrible inner feelings which can reside within a woman who has aborted a child. “Cost of Exposure” rocks our inner core and let’s us consider what is real and what is true. This is a very powerful short play.

LAINIE VANSANT takes on a multitude of issues in her short play. #Blessed begins as a normal mother-teenage daughter disagreement - in this case over the use of social media - but ends up discussing a most personal subject. I really like the way the playwright addresses several tough issues. The audience will be touched and enlightened and will want to discuss the issues after leaving the theater.

JOHN CONNON’s play, “The Improv Class”, reminded me of my own experiences as an improv performer. I found the dialogue ‘right-on’ and was ready to give a ‘thumbs-up’ for the play until - the ending blew me away! This is a really good play!

JONATHAN JOSEPHSON has written a play of two people ‘meeting’ by a chance wrong number. “Phone Friend” touches on our emotional need to be connected, even to a stranger, when we are struggling with the loss of a loved one. I love the realistic buildup of the friendship of these two people. This is a perfect play for Zoom and would be just as great onstage.

DAN TAUBE’s play, “Twisted Sister”, is a wonderful short play about the dynamics of two sisters, one older and a ‘woman-of-the-world’ and the other a naive little sister almost of age. I saw this play performed on Zoom and it was very entertaining. I highly recommend this play.

VIVIAN LERMOND’s monologue, “Bawdy Maudie”, is a nostalgic look-back to the time spent with a spouse, who was much different than their courtship. The ending absolutely was a complete surprise but so perfect!

ELISABETH GIFFIN SPECKMAN has written a sweet play of the reuniting of a man and woman after 408 days. When we haven’t seen someone for a long time, we anticipate they probably changed as well as ourselves. In fact, there is always some changes, but our basic personalities tend to stay very much as they were. “Bartley & Bess” is a very nice play, which I would love to see performed.

CHRISTINE FOSTER takes us on a plane ride with one mission, so we think. There is much to like about “Joy Ride”. A few twists and turns and a surprise ending will leave you grounded with the reality of the trials and tribulations of life. Fun play. I would love to see it performed on stage.