Recommended by Larry Rinkel

Brilliantly theatrical, with its varied interludes ringing all the changes on the meanings of "watermelon" as a symbol of degradation for black Americans. A senior prank turns ugly as two initially engaging male students - one black, one white - think placing watermelons in the (black, female) dean's office would be funny. Turns out, it's not, and this engaging short play gives audiences a lot to think about concerning race relations and history.

Inheritance, race, real estate, and family secrets all intertwine in Michelle Johnson's often satirical, often hilarious portrait of the Washingtons and the Levys following the death of siblings Paul and Angelique's grandmother "Maggie" (short for "Magnificent"). Who owns the stock, who owns the house, who was getting it on with whom - plenty of twists and turns here, and a great part especially for Angelique, full of scathing rage against whites. All capped by an unexpected bit of good fortune at the end for the Washington siblings which I won't spoil here.

David and Melanie are left to cope with the death of his wife and her mother Lena. Everything is handled in a quiet, understated way: with food, health, music, the intricacies of applying for Medicare serving to suggest the characters' isolation from each other and their difficulty in dealing with loss. A sensitive treatment of death and family sorrow.

Very funny little play. Gives a whole new meaning to "does a bear [ ] in the woods" or "exit, pursued by a bear." Bet you haven't read a play before with a bear-wrestling gay Mormon ghost named Evinrude (yes, to be confused with the outboard motor). And if you don't know what ghlamping means, it does not mean galloping or galumphing but something more like ghost glamour camping or glamping with a ghost. And if you don't know what glamping is (like me), it's a real word (which you can Google). Or just enjoy the play.

Marj O'Neill-Butler has written a touching account of two biracial half-brothers who have survived for years on the streets, and the old squatter Millie whose abandoned house they fall into. In search of parents as much as Millie is in search of children, the boys form an unlikely and sometimes conflicted relationship with their new guardian. A nice long one-act play suitable for families, and which treats the cases of those who have been betrayed or abandoned by society.

"There’s no need to water down our Hispanic roots with milk," says Sofía to René (any gender), as coffee becomes the symbol, source of contention, and ultimately resolution between Sofía who was brought up in Puerto Rico and René who has been assimilated into American culture. Ingeniously, we are provided with a bilingual Spanish-American script and a side-by-side translation. The work is described as a "trova" play, "trova" I learn being a style of Latinx music made popular by itinerant trovadores. However music is incorporated, and whether produced in Spanish or bilingually, the language is poetically charming.

A terrific tour de force for both writer and actor. The rhythm of the dialogue is so engaging, the character such a hoot, that this would be a pleasure to see. It does require some audience participation, and the staging will take some imagination, but no doubt it's doable and you shouldn't miss this one if only to read.

There's a lovely fluency to the banter, but in the end a sadness too as the play encapsulates the unbridgeable gulf between the sexes. One is left with the sense that women inevitably have a more fundamental understanding of men than men have of women.

A charming little play about growing up Jewish and trying to get the well-meaning adults off your back while you're trying to find yourself. Does a nice job of not getting too didactic, with fresh, engaging dialogue and characters who are recognizably Jewish without being stereotypical. Oh - and did you recognize Daniel might be gay?

All the comments below are dead-on, but consider also the inventiveness of characterization and dialogue with which Tristen Canfield distinguishes the limited consciousness of Sherman the fish with the far greater awareness of Wuzzums the cat. And yet even so the fish bowl and apartment are but the tiniest of settings far removed from the world outside with its car accidents and what-not. This is a brilliant philosophical debate about the nature of consciousness, friendship, death, and the limitations of all creatures' ability to grasp the world.