Recommended by Sam Heyman

11/26/24: The poetry of one's mind, captured with exquisite elevated language by Nora Louise Syran, dazzles and mystifies in Emily & The Mind of God. Emily Dickinson has a distinctive voice, both on the page of this play and in her poems, and Syran emulates that voice effectively here, navigating the final moments of Dickinson's life. Poignant and powerful, this play would be a gift to an actress moved by the cadence of its verse.

There was a time when humanity believed our planet was the center of the universe. Even as we've become more 'worldly,' mankind is still somewhat self-centered and positions the center of their own personal universe someplace close to home. Philip Middleton Williams reminds us that our paths around the sun may bring us closer and further away from our center, but it is the connections we make along the way that make the ride bearable, even when flight plans go awry. A tender, human play.

NOW THAT'S HOW YOU WRITE A WHO-DUNNIT!

In all seriousness, Blue Skies Yonder is much more than a murder mystery. It's a well-woven tapestry of intertwined plot threads, lies, and secrets, and it is a gripping read from start to finish. Peter Fenton is a writer who can take a genre convention and twist it into his very own plaything. Blue Skies Yonder may net warranted comparisons to Knives Out and the works of Agatha Christie, but this only speaks to his artistry. Excellent, riveting play!

"New choice!" -- Jacquie Floyd-Priskorn is a master of exploring a premise to its fullest potential. There are twists and turns aplenty in this short, which is both humorous and chilling, and audiences will delight in trying to figure out where it's headed. "The Winter Wolf" utilizes improv terminology excellently for both comedy and drama, and leads us somewhere mystical and haunting. Excellent work!

10/21/24: Beer Culture by James Kelsey Nelson is a 'spit-out-your-drink' hilarious play in more ways than one. The absurd extent to which it lampoons beer snobbery will have readers and audiences roaring with laughter. Staging this play in an actual pub is an inspired choice and would make for an uproarious evening at the bar/theatre. Excellent!

10/15/24: We love a ten minute play with a musical number! Guardian To Be is as farcical as it is poignant, with well drawn characters and a heartfelt sibling relationship at its center. I appreciated the ways that this play builds in strangeness until arriving at its satisfying, grounded conclusion. Kudos to Julie Zaffarano for this treat of a short!

10/14/24: Adaptations are so commonplace that you would think we would have produced more masters of the art. Monica Cross asserts herself as one such master, an artist capable of both evocative scene-craft and elevated language who can at once retell a known story and make it entirely her own. "Creation: A Frankenstein Story" is a compact and compelling two-hander with a lot to say about the relationship between a creator and his creation, between parents and children, between Gods and men.

10/9/24: A high school comedy perfect for educational and community theatre orgs alike, CORONATION serves as both a tribute to high school classics (think Mean Girls with a dash of John Waters) and a striking step forward for the genre. Peter Fenton has written a cast of roles that young actors can sink their teeth into. I am excited for what comes next for this excellent play!

10/4/24: This play turned a light switch on in me! Dave Osmundsen centers the autistic experience so beautifully in all of his plays, but Henry, the central protagonist of Light Switch, is a character with such magnetism and specificity that he transforms the world around him at times into a version of the Victorian era literature he so adores. This play is earnest, heartfelt, and written from a marvelous and caring perspective. I was so glad to see it at Open Space Arts!

10/3/24: Bilingual plays help to preserve the nuance of specific cultural experiences while getting at the universal, and Esto También Pasará is a shining example of that in the short form. Anchored by a game of Battleship, this beautiful, heartbreaking story about a sister trying to protect her brother from the harshness of reality would be a great fit for any ten minute play festival. Audiences are in good hands with playwright Jessica Mayer!