Recommended by Claudia Haas

I am immersed in McClain’s short, thematically related plays. Igniting brings us to scary places. Places we may not want to visit but must. There’s danger. There’s loss. And they are unavoidable. The characters question themselves and right or wrong - they do not give in to what’s easy. McClain’s ability to give us a glimpse of a complicated character in one minute is a wonder.

What was. What is. What could be. What will be. Three very short plays that encompass our human desires are brought before us. McClain wraps us into her divining world. She offers us remembrances of the past as well as glimmers into a future. There’s light everywhere. And it’s most welcome.

Rinkel really amps the "struggling" in "struggling artist." Everyone struggles: the artist, the gallery owner and the buyer. Nobody in the hierarchy of the art world escapes Rinkel's eye. Smartly written and cleverly plotted, the play navigates three points of view with an eye on the absurd. Dare I say it? There's some fine artistry in this artsy play.

The invention! The contents of Jane’s purse! Bubbles and the ocean! What’s not to like? Sweet and tangy, Floating Bubbles is a delicious confection for a play festival. Dick and Jane both have a lovely arc and give the actors something strong to play. The audiences will love the surprises.

Get your sillies on and read this. It’s chock full of belly laughs, and “oh no!” chuckles. In the vein of “what can go wrong,” this play delivers a non-stop farce of mayhem. If you like your romance peppered with giggly chaos, O’Neil-Butler is giving it to you. A treat tor audiences and actors.

Boyle ends his pice with “Imagine if he continued” and I am left imagining this play if it continued. Maybe chess mirrors life. Maybe chess mirrors what you wish was life. Boyle brings up “what is a life” again and again. You must supply the answers.

Martin reminds us that conversation doesn’t tell truths. There is so much more to Maria’s and Ginny’s relationship and Martin leaves you wanting more. Beautifully done.

Awww.. this is a puppy dance! Maybe we should all be puppies for an hour a day and roll in the grass. It really is about the little things.

In the spirit of, “I don’t know how to tell you that you should care about other people,” Martin’s play says it all. Our common humanity is onstage and it’s lovely.

In these weary-Covid days, a play celebrating the human spirit is most welcome. While we have a good idea as to what will happen at the set-up of the play, the ending is a breath of fresh air. That air is renewal.