Recommended by Larry Rinkel

This little gem reminds me of the passage in Israel Zangwill's "The Melting Pot" which makes the point that if you put four critics in a room, they will conclude either they've heard a good piece performed well, a good piece performed badly, a bad piece performed well, or a bad piece performed badly. I'm sure playwright Martin has his eye winking at the arbitrariness of judging all types of competitions, but he makes the joke funnier by letting on only 2/3 through that the artists are little girls (who don't give a crap and become friends). And the names!

It takes great mastery to balance the horrors of Hurricane Maria with a tone that never loses touch with the comic and even zany. Why has God chosen to visit such devastation on this small island, and how are the victims of this disaster to survive and even transcend? The narrator Leslie has been conceived as a transgender or "non-binary gender fluid" character, the suggestion being that she is the ultimate outcast, "not the Lord's kid" but "the shame of its breed," and yet the one Jesus has chosen to visit.

Clever little piece. A 3-minute play, I'd guess. Anyone who has experienced the frustration of an uncooperative, hands-free sink or dryer in a public restroom can relate.

Anthea Carns's summary above gives an excellent introduction to the subject of her play. But it doesn't convey the taut dramaturgy and beautifully sculpted, even fierce dialogue coming from her three main characters. Parallels are drawn between the three accused women, each paired with one man: Lillian Hellman with Dashiell Hammett (Communism), Joan of Arc and a guard (heresy), and Martha Dobie (from Hellman's "Children's Hour") with Joe Cardin (Lesbianism). While the play reads briskly and convincingly in the sequence presented, Carns tells us that scenes can be presented in different orders.

A sweet little unexpected high-school reunion at a cemetery for two men who had a special relationship when young: the older man as the protector who perhaps could not admit his love, the younger man as the protected one who had a crush on his classmate. Now that Barney's wife has died and so has Collin's cat, is there a future for them? Will there be a new cat? Sickles avoids cliché by writing a potential romance for two older gay men, and introduces subtle tones of comedy in the animals of his title (as well as that Wagnerian-named cat).

I agree with other reviewers, but what should not be overlooked is the tone of bittersweet comedy that also suffuses the play, as (on his way to a funeral for an unnamed relative), Michael feels a desperate need to confess his sexuality to the grandmother whose dementia is too far gone to comprehend anything he's saying. Watch also for the bit of magic realism that ends the play.

A quiet and beautifully paced account of two young Texan men trying to rekindle their childhood relationship after one has gone off to college and lost touch with his roots. The play is understated and totally free from melodrama, saying a great deal about the nature of friendship, religion, and parent-child relationships.

For a man, this touching little play will illuminate much about female sexuality you may have not known about; for all readers, the play will illuminate the fears and attractions between two teenage girls, one more insistent on pursuing the other. The brief last scene, set 40 years into the future (2035) when both are 53 and one may be dying of cancer, rounds out the moment where the girls kiss and suggests how the encounter has been both extremely important to both and completely secret and private.

Love-hate between two friends, one the alpha and one the beta, and the frustration and resentment that ensue when the beta male cracks under the alpha's taunts. The dialogue here snarls, crackles, and sounds authentically Southern; and two gifted young male actors could bring the escalating tension to life - and finally death.

A beautifully understated short radio piece about a lonely young man in need of love. The language is lovely, and the use of supporting voices and sound effects evocative. How many of us seek companionship from the inanimate safety of a statue in a park?