Recommended by Sam Heyman

People are in our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. In her take on “Erstwhile,” Hilary Bluestein-Lyons explores this notion, and takes some unexpected turns during the plays journey through reminiscence. I appreciate the specificity of the characters and the relationship. This is a lovely piece with great depth for a self contained scene.

In this earnest, tender take on “Erstwhile,” Debra A Cole gives aging parents the opportunity to speak with their younger selves, in the moments before their lives change forever. Nothing prepares you for the challenges, the joys, and tears of parenting — but sometimes all you need is the assurance that it will all be worth it.

“Be kind to yourself in the coming years.” Deeply felt.

It’s a race against the clock before the authorities arrive, and Knuckles has something pressing on his mind, but his partner in crime, Goober, wants to stay focused on the job at hand. This charming short from David Lipschutz is surprising, romantic, and hilarious.

Hell is other people, but some people don’t deserve Hell.

Williams gets ahead of the headlines with this powerful piece that imagines where those who are worthily and summarily cancelled must live out the rest of their days. “Erstwhile” reminds us that not every legacy is to be celebrated. Some will take generations to undo the damage done, whether their perpetrators are still around to lend a hand or not.

Busser’s take on “Erstwhile” brings be back to my message board days, where occasionally posters would write stories using thinly veiled self insert characters of the forum community to great (narcissistic) aplomb. What a strange bunch we playwrights are. This play makes me feel confident I’ve found my people, in which plays like these, and playwrights like the fantastic John Busser, are able to thrive.

Paul Braverman masterfully captures a very specific experience felt by many and raises it to the level of universality. Losing a loved one is complicated and difficult, but this complication is compounded by the impact of addiction and the role it can play in disfiguring your relationship with those you love. In "Erstwhile," a brother powerfully meditates on these complex emotions, giving voice to many readers and listeners who feel this type of loss intimately. Excellent.

All the bread you can eat and all the Diet Coke you can drink…. Surely, you’d be in Heaven… right? For A Limited Time Only is romantic, terrifying, occasionally disgusting, and surprisingly sweet. Daniel Prillaman is the master of the foul mouthed horror comedy, and this play is understandably a hit with audiences and theatre makers alike. Gather By The Ghost Light’s production was my introduction, but this is a script that reads as well as it plays. A top notch evening at the theatre.

This play had me crying in the Zoom call, y’all! Jacquie is a master of the unexpected tearjerker. Love, Hathaway is a fantastic and sweet play about a cat mom and her late beloved fur child, and it engages with love and loss in a way many playwrights would do well to take note of. Excellent work!

Never talk to strangers in elevators… they make know more than they let on. A chilling short from Evan Baughfman.

Asher Wyndham is an innovative and compassionate monologist who never fails to compel, humanize, and speak truth to power. Army Captain Rhett Stone deserves to be read, performed, and taken to heart. An excellent addition to Wyndham’s ongoing tapestry of American experience.