Book excerpt: (Applause Books). Applause is proud to continue the series that for over 70 years has been the standard of excellence for one-act plays in America. From its inception, The Best American Short Plays has identified new, cutting-edge playwrights who have gone on to establish award-winning careers, including Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee, Wendy Wasserstein, David Mamet, and Horton Foote. William W. Demastes made his debut as series editor with the well-received 2010-2011 volume, a diverse collection revolving around the multidimensional theme of love. Blogcritics said of the anthology: "This collection is a bountiful of pleasing oddities. Each work offers something worthwhile.... The collection runs the gamut of the most serious drama to the most irreverent topical mental trinkets...." Demastes returns and once again draws from works produced by some of America's finest theater companies in an effort to capture the wide range of styles, topics, and regional tastes that typifies American theater. The compilation includes works by John Guare, Neil LaBute, and A. R. Gurney, as well as contributions from a plethora of gifted, emerging playwrights.