Recommended by Joe Swenson

Jaxson has all the elements of setting up a twist and cleverly hides these elements in the dialogue. What he does brilliantly is not reveal the specifics of the twist until the twist happens. The dialogue keeps you guessing, both characters keep you guessing, and as an audience you guess as well. Excellent job Jaxson. Fun read.

Awesome! A lifetime in one minute. I could see every moment and I enjoyed the entire minute. This would be fun to stage.

Suspenseful, well paced monologue by Samantha Marchant. As the story escalates, you feel your heart beat a bit faster, and before you know it, something happens. Great work!

Excellent read. I’m a huge fan of biblical hyperbole and Morey Norkin takes it to a fantastical level. Weaving a little knowledge, sprinkling some irony there, but ultimately conversing with a deity that has given up on mankind. It’s quirky, smart, funny, and damning. Brilliant work.

There were about 500 moments in Steven G. Martin's marvelous play where I thought I'd tear up, and they were there. Then something funny, or uncomfortable, or surprising would happen and the tear that was there would be held hostage by the playwright. There are so many delightful theater items, too many to build into this finite recommendation. Benny V is an amazing character, well built, well defined, and an unlikely protagonist in a lot of ways. The co-workers, the blood-noses, the sublime ways his life changes, and the entire time you only mostly know what's going on! AWESOME!

1902 New York City and Elisabeth Speckman successfully takes the audience back in time. Through the eyes of Lillian Wald we come to understand the heroism and hopeful purpose of nursing. Elisabeth captivates your mind and your imagination with an incredibly layered character. To be sure that you aren't missing the point, the story of the 6 year old girl, brings it home. This is an incredible show.

So powerful. Seriously. It's so sad that there is literally no time right now that the story of Denny isn't relevant. Reading this after two mass shootings - Walmart in Virginia, LGBTQ+ Club in Colorado Springs just makes it so sad to know that this play, could be done with countless other victims. Elisabeth's story telling is so compelling and at no point does she ever go the obvious which takes just as much courage as it takes to write this show. Beautifully written.

This play has a little bit of everything, from Christmas Best Friends, bits of irony mixed in with some comedy, and sprinkle in some ambiguity and the recipe here are Jenna's Christmas Rules. The conversation feels natural and uncomfortable to the point of laughter and by the time you finish, Jaxson hits you with another rule. Fun read.

There's this thing I pass down to my kids once they stop believing in Santa, that it's their job to be Santa for their younger siblings. Of course, at some point you run out siblings to keep handing this down to. I imagine that's how this family operates, except in this scenario it's through circumstances out of Brett's control that forces him to be Santa. It's heartbreaking, but hopeful at the same time and Jaxson does a wonderful job hitting both sides equally. Well done.

Charles Scott Jones has written a splendid play that questions the limits of reality. I do love plays like this. I also sense that despite the light above surface dialogue a director could take this piece and really drag it through darkest of dark sides. Jones keeps you guessing all the way to the end and ambiguously leaves it up to audience to decide. Excellent!