THE STORIES: The three short comedies in this collection were all originally written as part of The 24 Hour Plays On Broadway. Described by The New York Post as "the equivalent of a high-wire act without a net," the 24 Hour Plays is an annual benefit in which several one acts are written, cast, directed and performed on Broadway in less than a day. As Black Book says, "It's a raucous, foot-stomping evening which redefines fresh." CRAZY EIGHTS. When Connie comes home late one night, she finds her parole officer waiting in her apartment with a torte and a long list of questions. The interrogation/courting dance that follows is complicated by the after-hours arrival of Connie's charming card-playing buddy. (2 men, 1 woman.) BABY FOOD is a contemporary comedy about an off-kilter couple desperately searching for godparents for their newborn infant. Little do they know that the friends they've chosen are less than adventurous diners and on the verge of a divorce. (2 men, 2 women.) THAT OTHER PERSON. Tonight is the night Ginge and Kevin are going to tell their respective spouses the marriage-shattering secret they've been keeping from everyone. But their bomb shell gets put on the back burner when a gorgeous peeping-tom, with secrets of her own, falls in the pool and nearly drowns. (2 men, 3 women.)

A novel about escape and connection, class, sex, and queer intimacy in the American Midwest. The oldest story: an insider pretends to be an outsider and receives praise for his empathy and imagination and intelligence. Maybe some asshole even says bravery. An outsider pretends to be an insider, is exposed as a fraud, a liar, and burned to the ground. In Ripcord, Nate Lippens continues his meditations on escape and connection, class, sex, and intimacy. Stuck in Milwaukee, the narrator cobbles together a living by bartending and catering weddings, enmeshed in a semiaffair with a younger, married man. Cruising apps while tallying his youthful romantic failures, he fantasizes about disappearance but finds both solace and frustration in his friendships with Charlie, an aging punk who was prominent in the 1990s Chicago queercore scene, and Greer, a painter who never broke through but continues making work.

The hothouse atmosphere of all-male boarding schools has inspired a whole body of literature and drama exploring themes of friendship, romance, honor and betrayal...Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa's GOOD BOYS AND TRUE is a solid addition to the canon. It's a suspen No one in New York writes dialogue quite like Grimm...[He] effervesces so violently that he achieves liftoff, fizzing out of the Land of the Pleasantly Dirty Farce and landing on Planet Experimental Theater...A magical mystery tour of Grimm's brain...a comedia

THE STORY: Welcome to Southie, a Boston neighborhood where a night on the town means a few rounds of bingo, where this month's paycheck covers last month's bills, and where Margie Walsh has just been let go from yet another job. Facing eviction and

Cast size: medium.

THE STORY: Mrs. Slater has waited fourteen long years to tell her son, Gene, the truth. And when he wakes up on his twenty-first birthday, she greets him with the customary banners and good wishes, and then gets to the point. Your father was murde

THE STORY: Nothing will prepare you for the dirty little secret Cass discovers in her husband's sweater drawer. It is so shocking that our heroine has no choice but to flee to the honeymoon capital of the world in a frantic search for the life she

(Piano/Vocal/Guitar Songbook). Features 18 piano/vocal selections from this Broadway hit that won both Tony and Drama Desk awards. Includes a plot synopsis, sensational color photos, and these tunes: The Ballad of Farquaad * Big Bright Beautiful World * Build a Wall * Don't Let Me Go * Donkey Pot Pie * Finale (This Is Our Story) * Freak Flag * I Know It's Today * I Think I Got You Beat * Make a Move * More to the Story * Morning Person * Story of My Life * This Is How a Dream Comes True * Travel Song * What's Up, Duloc? * When Words Fail * Who I'd Be.

This one-of-a-kind anthology features thirty-six hilarious short plays by major American playwrights and emerging new voices, all guaranteed to send readers and audiences into peals of laughter. From the surrealistic wit of Steve Martin's "The Zig-Zag Woman" to the biting political satire of Steven Dietz's "The Spot," from Christopher Durang's wonderfully loopy "Wanda's Visit" to Shel Silverstein's supremely twisted "The Best Daddy," there's something in here to make everyone laugh. There are plays for casts of all sizes, from monologues to large ensembles, with diverse and challenging roles for actors of every age and type. Even the titles are funny: Mark O'Donnell's "There Shall Be No Bottom (a bad play for worse actors)," Elaine May's "The Way of All Fish," and Alan Ball's "Your Mother's Butt." A bonanza for theatergoers, performers, and comedy fans, Laugh Lines will bring down the house. From the Trade Paperback edition.

A wise and hilarious novel about love, heartbreak, and rock and roll from the bestselling author of About a Boy and Dickens and Prince Now a Hulu series starring Zoë Kravitz! "I've always loved Nick Hornby, and the way he writes characters and the way he thinks. It's funny and heartbreaking all at the same time."—Zoë Kravitz Rob is a pop music junkie who runs his own semi-failing record store. His girlfriend, Laura, has just left him for the guy upstairs, and Rob is both miserable and relieved. After all, could he have spent his life with someone who has a bad record collection? Rob seeks refuge in the company of the offbeat clerks at his store, who endlessly review their top five films; top five Elvis Costello songs; top five episodes of Cheers. Rob tries dating a singer, but maybe it's just that he's always wanted to sleep with someone who has a record contract. Then he sees Laura again. And Rob begins to think that life with kids, marriage, barbecues, and soft rock CDs might not be so bad.