Recommended by Joe Swenson

"Occupied" is the most brilliant play I've read this year. Conceptually brilliant, artistically brilliant, purposefully brilliant. " I think you know it’s love when it stops feeling like love and it just feels like life" might be the most important quote to understanding love that I've ever read. I want to give away so much of the story, but the only word that continues to come out is BRILLIANT. The relationship(s), the dialogue, and the poem. The poem that will sit with me for a long time. This play is incredible. I'd pay top dollar to see it live!

Fabulous. I wanted to play along and Vivian's Charades doesn't disappoint, all the way up to the end. The genius of it all is that we all know a Pat and a Bill and Vivian establishes all of that in less than one minute. Incredible.

What an amazing concept and you get to walk away with so much knowledge. The Twelve Days of Christmas is delightful, and can be read separately or as a collaboration. Nora paints these beautiful pictures with layers of rich cultural awareness. Each vignette stands out on it's own, but they also lend the magic that Nora creates through the lens of each of her characters. I'd love to see this show on a stage, its brilliant.

Chris is a monologue master. He paints these vivid pictures about childhood, a lake, a beauty pageant while building a world of questions where you provide the answers. Once you have read this, it will stay with you. In this web of playwriting misdirection, Chris challenges the limits of narration and then goes further only to leave you either wanting more or figuring out why the ending was so stunning. Brilliant.

There's a moment in this frightful monologue about a teddy bears' perceptions that I laughed completely out loud. At that moment I wasn't sure the involuntary noise was from being uncomfortable or the humor, or perhaps both. The tension is remarkable. Chris writes these bear monologues with such an incredible paintbrush of imagination while keeping the performance well within character. If you aren't reading The Bear Monologues, you are missing out on an incredible ride for sure. Beautiful and frightening!

Andrew Martineau's Give Up The Ghost is a fantastic play. You're hooked from the first line of the play as these college students end up in the wrong place. There are twists and turns along the way that really make the ride enjoyable, eye opening, and somewhat educational as well. An absolutely fantastic ghost story with many metaphorical values written in to keep you going. Also, the language of the Civil War South is fantastic written. This play deserves an audience!

Wow! This was an incredible play to read, it would be an incredible play to see and experience. Mackenzie does an amazing job of stripping two characters down to raw emotion to allow the reader to experience without bias, their own biases. I felt all of my own experiences in life displayed through Blue and Green and as someone who has experienced extreme trauma in a similar way to the characters, I felt every emotion, every struggle, the entire evolution of the characters. Beautifully written, wonderfully staged, and so incredibly deep. Thank you Mackenzie for the experience.

What an incredibly fun ride. Starts off in an aloof and seeming inconsequential conversation regarding the break-up of one of the main characters turns into a master class in building tension through ambiguity. My favorite part is how the show ends and what's really great about this short piece is that it could easily be expanded, and the ending would still be just as incredible. An ending that will stay with you for days.

What a fantastic play written from the pet's perspective. At points you root for Twinkle, you root for Gregory, and root for the next confrontation. This play has it all, tension, comedy, drama, and finally a resolution that you didn't know you wanted at points, but once it happens, you love it. I highly recommend this play.

The Bear - Reborn is a fantastic trip into the mind, err, stuffed mind of a teddy bear. As a stand-alone monologue, you sense the parallels of life's pursuits. Where you desire something more and when that something more is achieved, it leaves you with a sense of immense purpose. Interwoven into this overall narrative is Christopher's incredible ability to capture the environment in real time and describe it to the audience without feel encumbered by the description. I highly recommend The Bear - Reborn as well as the entire series.