Recommended by Sam Heyman

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    What every customer service rep hopes is waiting for our thorniest customers! Julie Brandon skewers the entitled, demanding customer trope — which is very true to life — and devises a fitting punishment for one Anne-with-an-e who has made customer service reps around the world her enemy. Cathartic reading for anyone in the service industry and sure to be a hit with audiences! Hilarious.

    What every customer service rep hopes is waiting for our thorniest customers! Julie Brandon skewers the entitled, demanding customer trope — which is very true to life — and devises a fitting punishment for one Anne-with-an-e who has made customer service reps around the world her enemy. Cathartic reading for anyone in the service industry and sure to be a hit with audiences! Hilarious.

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    An achingly beautiful portrait, cinematic and theatrical alike, of gay male love in an era and industry that did its best to obscure and suffocate true intimacy in favor of the sanitized (heterosexual) image of the movie star. LAVENDER BLUE is an achievement in period playwriting that hardly wastes a scene, let alone a word. Robert Weibezahl crafts organic and authentic characters and makes you root for them, care about them, cry for them. Exemplary work, destined for an audience.

    An achingly beautiful portrait, cinematic and theatrical alike, of gay male love in an era and industry that did its best to obscure and suffocate true intimacy in favor of the sanitized (heterosexual) image of the movie star. LAVENDER BLUE is an achievement in period playwriting that hardly wastes a scene, let alone a word. Robert Weibezahl crafts organic and authentic characters and makes you root for them, care about them, cry for them. Exemplary work, destined for an audience.

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    Horror and intrigue in short plays often stems from how the playwright carefully trains our attention to overlook the signs of darkness until it’s too late. It really *is* that kind of story, and you can’t look away.

    In “This Is All Very Normal,” Mathew Green uses remarkable restraint to build tensions and play with expectations, leading to a conclusion that will stay with you long after the curtain falls. An excellent chiller of a short.

    Horror and intrigue in short plays often stems from how the playwright carefully trains our attention to overlook the signs of darkness until it’s too late. It really *is* that kind of story, and you can’t look away.

    In “This Is All Very Normal,” Mathew Green uses remarkable restraint to build tensions and play with expectations, leading to a conclusion that will stay with you long after the curtain falls. An excellent chiller of a short.

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    I THINK WE'RE LOST is a time-hopping, magical, and inventive take on Peter Pan that explores the dangerous allure of never having to grow up. From the dark implications of a life defined by pleasurable stagnation to the heartfelt journeys taken by each of Fenton's characters, this is a play that will delight audiences and designers alike!

    I THINK WE'RE LOST is a time-hopping, magical, and inventive take on Peter Pan that explores the dangerous allure of never having to grow up. From the dark implications of a life defined by pleasurable stagnation to the heartfelt journeys taken by each of Fenton's characters, this is a play that will delight audiences and designers alike!

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    I had the pleasure of watching a recording of BUM BUM and came away from the experience with a profound sense of hope — hope for a world, a cultural landscape where autistic artists, dancers, comedians, PLAYWRIGHTS get to be themselves, uncensored, unsanitized, and unapologetically so. Dave Osmundsen is at the forefront of what theatre is and can look like. BUM BUM, OR, THIS FARCE HAS AUTISM is funny, profound, and deserves to be seen by audiences all over. Produce this play!

    I had the pleasure of watching a recording of BUM BUM and came away from the experience with a profound sense of hope — hope for a world, a cultural landscape where autistic artists, dancers, comedians, PLAYWRIGHTS get to be themselves, uncensored, unsanitized, and unapologetically so. Dave Osmundsen is at the forefront of what theatre is and can look like. BUM BUM, OR, THIS FARCE HAS AUTISM is funny, profound, and deserves to be seen by audiences all over. Produce this play!

  • Sam Heyman: WHALE, ACTUALLY by Ava Love Hanna
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    Patriarchy Flourishing Under The Sea? Whale, Actually skewers male entitlement in a way that is both hilarious and hard hitting. Regardless of where this play may fit in the timeline of Amelia Earhart’s real life, this is a short play that is sure to have audiences laughing hard and fighting harder to keep from strangling these Certified Vintage misogynists. Produce this play!

    Patriarchy Flourishing Under The Sea? Whale, Actually skewers male entitlement in a way that is both hilarious and hard hitting. Regardless of where this play may fit in the timeline of Amelia Earhart’s real life, this is a short play that is sure to have audiences laughing hard and fighting harder to keep from strangling these Certified Vintage misogynists. Produce this play!

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  • Sam Heyman: Fresh Hell by Brian Cern
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    Some say Hell is other people, but “Fresh Hell” is a whole other play! Brian Cern captures the frenetic, furious madness of trying to sign your kid up for summer camp and secure yourself some well deserved peace and quiet. I had the pleasure of seeing this play presented at the 2025 Midwest Dramatists Conference and I am a firm believer, this play is a cathartic crowd pleaser. Hilarious!

    Some say Hell is other people, but “Fresh Hell” is a whole other play! Brian Cern captures the frenetic, furious madness of trying to sign your kid up for summer camp and secure yourself some well deserved peace and quiet. I had the pleasure of seeing this play presented at the 2025 Midwest Dramatists Conference and I am a firm believer, this play is a cathartic crowd pleaser. Hilarious!

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  • Sam Heyman: The Chateau Rainbeau Holiday Door Decorating Contest by Donald E. Baker
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    I love the world Don Baker creates in this play so much. The all-gay-male retirement community of Chateau Rainbeau could support so many diverse stories, but I am thankful that it gave birth to this poignant comedy about moving beyond one’s grief. I would gladly pass many half hours with Ray, George, and James Randall James and audiences will delight in this play’s heartfelt and humorous storyline. Presented as part of the Playwrights Thriving Reading Series, it was a delight for all involved.

    I love the world Don Baker creates in this play so much. The all-gay-male retirement community of Chateau Rainbeau could support so many diverse stories, but I am thankful that it gave birth to this poignant comedy about moving beyond one’s grief. I would gladly pass many half hours with Ray, George, and James Randall James and audiences will delight in this play’s heartfelt and humorous storyline. Presented as part of the Playwrights Thriving Reading Series, it was a delight for all involved.

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  • Sam Heyman: BRIGHTLY BURNING by Julie Brandon
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    It can be difficult to take stock of the gifts that our parents give us while they’re alive. In Brightly Burning, this engagingly structured drama from Julie Brandon, this sentiment rings poignantly true. I was honored to present this play as part of the Playwrights Thriving Reading Series and recommend it for anyone seeking plays engaging meaningfully with family relationships and the ways our upbringing can inform how far we go, and what legacies we leave behind.

    It can be difficult to take stock of the gifts that our parents give us while they’re alive. In Brightly Burning, this engagingly structured drama from Julie Brandon, this sentiment rings poignantly true. I was honored to present this play as part of the Playwrights Thriving Reading Series and recommend it for anyone seeking plays engaging meaningfully with family relationships and the ways our upbringing can inform how far we go, and what legacies we leave behind.

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  • Sam Heyman: The Country Squire by Philip Middleton Williams
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    Philip Middleton Williams is the master of the “lived in” play world, and this pays off beautifully throughout The Country Squire, his latest full length effort. Everything from the affluent, storied community in which the play is set, to the central family and its various dynamics, feels meticulously crafted. Details that feel like decoration sneak up on you, and help to produce a poignant, lovely piece of theatre. A rich ensemble, ready for the stage.

    Philip Middleton Williams is the master of the “lived in” play world, and this pays off beautifully throughout The Country Squire, his latest full length effort. Everything from the affluent, storied community in which the play is set, to the central family and its various dynamics, feels meticulously crafted. Details that feel like decoration sneak up on you, and help to produce a poignant, lovely piece of theatre. A rich ensemble, ready for the stage.

    ”