Recommended by Morey Norkin

As a playwright, you must remember this, when receiving critiques from a play festival or after a reading, the comments may be motivated by hearts full of passion, jealousy, and hate. Philip Middleton Williams skillfully skewers the feedback process and demonstrates why sometimes you really need to take criticism with a large dose of salt. Smart, funny, and so deserving of a spot in any festival.

This take on the talkback session following a new play reading is so clever and frighteningly accurate. The way the initial criticism opens the floodgates for the others to pile on is handled perfectly as is the ending. Nothing to criticize here.

Is there anyone who hasn’t had a telephone customer service nightmare? I didn’t think so. That’s why this play is so relatable and so funny. Peter’s frustration is palpable as is Mary Beth’s lack of interest. Can these two come together and kill two birds with one orca? Or something like that. This will work great on stage or via podcast. Fun for actors and audiences alike.

It is. The anxiety of needing an emergency rest stop or a divine intervention is comically (tragically?) reminiscent of the feeling while awaiting a response from a play submission. And that just leaves you feeling sh*tty. Could this be intentional? Very clever!

Jacquie Floyd-Priskorn’s audience participation plays are so much fun, and Ghost Flushers is a perfect example. If your theater, or really any organization, is looking for a fundraiser, this would be a terrific Halloween treat. Why wait? Ghosts need flushing all year long.

Art and love come alive in this inventive two-hander. The back and forth between artist and subject is lively, sentimental, and educational. It is exactly as the title suggests and much more.

This is quite obviously a deeply personal play, and as such it has a profound emotional impact. Told through school notes, letters, phone calls, and emails, the story of a beautiful friendship unfolds over the course of four decades, from elementary school to middle age. Secrets are shared, dreams are chased, plans change, opportunities to catch up are missed. It’s those missed opportunities that really hit me. The staging may be simple, but this story will stay with you until Niagara falls or the chocolate chips.

I always worry when I speak I’ll put my foot in my mouth. Never did I imagine I would read, and so thoroughly enjoy, a play that takes that imagery to the extreme. Marshall Logan Gibbs gives us a dinner party that is a cross between a Marx Brothers film and Silence of the Lambs. The puns and non sequiturs fly fast and will surely keep you on your toes, if you can indeed keep your toes. Outrageously funny! What a hoot to see on stage.

A wonderful mix of humor, sweetness, and melancholy takes a dark and creepy turn. Rachel Feeny-Williams brings us an engaging and perhaps troubling look at just how far AI may encroach on our lives. Have you talked to your Synthetically Trained Recreational Automated Utility Sympathetic System today?

The tension is palpable in this short historical drama. The dialogue is crisp and completely believable. Like a condensed Fail Safe. Living with frequent warnings of missle launches from North Korea as I do, I found this event particularly unnerving. A great piece that, sadly, never seems to go out of date.