Recommended by Dan West

A couple on the run taking shelter from the rain in a ripped from the headlines story of forbidden love in the age of ICE. In this intriguingly political but never didactic short play, Brian Cern subverts our expectations and delivers a sharply honed conclusion that will leave you staggered. I like to think of myself as a pretty canny reader, but this one caught me by surprise. Well done.

When off-beat substitute teacher Mr. Kultura first steps in front of today’s assigned charges, it seems like we are being setup for a blood in the water moment with the classroom eating him alive. But instead what we get is Thal and Kultura turning the tables on all of us for a hilarious indictment of corporate crowdsourcing as a component of late stage capitalism. If all lessons on economics were this engaging, we might all have a better understanding of why things are the way they are in the world we live in.

Does death bring closure to the dead? That is the question being asked in Jonny Bolduc’s short but powerful play, FAMILY. A middle aged writer calls back his parents from beyond the grave to revisit the family tragedy that tore them apart and that none of them has yet been able to process. But are any of them even now ready to accept the roles that they may or may not have had in bringing it about? The ghost tale will continue to haunt you long after you leave the theater.

A superhero story where the hero’s secret identity is the one that actually ends up saving the day. When the Good Prowler’s day job interferes with his ability to rescue the victims of a building collapse, it is up to city desk reporter Josh Watkins to battle company bureaucracy, the mayor’s office, and work-life-balance to make sure that justice is served. A terrifically written ensemble piece the delivers on every level. Sometimes the true heroes are the people beneath the masks.

Relationships are fragile things. Particularly in the early stages of their forging, before they have been molded into their final shape and set to harden. Lily is in just such an early relationship, full of promise and apparent compatibility, when her new partner brings up the topic of safe words - sending the sexually conservative Lily out of balance and reeling, and in need of some friendly wise counsel. Paul Donnelly’s direct and unreserved handling of this sensitive topic make this short two-hander one well worth producing.

Black Friday midnight sales bring out all kinds. David is a faith filled man looking to get a doorbuster deal on an engagement ring for his love. Ricky is down on his luck and in need of quick cash. A chance encounter in a shopping mall parking lot (along with a bit of supernatural intercession) leads to life changing consequences for both men. A chilling take on a chilly night that profoundly illustrates why the interactions that should bind us so often drive us apart.

Amphibia, the villainous Bullfrog Queen of Crime, is out to kill the heroic Dung Beetle-Man hoping that she can heal the hole left in soul due to the recent death of her father by doing the one thing that he was never able to accomplish. And she succeed over and over again, almost finding love and understanding along the way. But in the end, se discovers that reaching an external goal does not always soothe ones internal pains. A broadly comedic and crafty two-hander that, like it's protagonist, is deeper than it seems at first glance.

Ken Love writes challenging plays. Plays that provoke their audiences to gaze deep into the souls of his troubled characters and then dare us to not to identify with them. Why would this short Christmas play do anything different? When a holiday traveler picks up a lonely hitchhiker on Christmas Eve, he quickly learns that not every Yuletide homecoming is a festive one. More than just the weather is chilling this season.

What do you do if a ghost returns the morning after it’s been exorcised? Maybe deny its existence. Perhaps try to kill it again. Maybe take a turn to the meta and engage in out of character digressions. Paul Donnelly’s familiar characters try all three in this brilliant send up of Edward Albee classic play. And this time is not just for fun and games. What would Nick and Honey think? I dunno, but I loved it.

Being interviewed for a job can be an overwhelming proposition, especially is that job is one for which you are overwhelmingly unqualified. But Sam has a solution for this dilemma - lie. Lie, lie and keep lying. And hope the person that is doing the interviewing is just as under-qualified as you. Tom Erb explores just such a scenario in his ten-minute “The Interview” to hilarious effect. The escalating outrageousness will leave the audience rolling in the aisles.