Recommended by Paul Donnelly

A dark and wry meditation on the role of Art and the struggle to survive in a totalitarian dystopia. For all the darkness, and there is some dark stuff in Art Duty, the wit of this work is striking, What this melding of darkness and humor leads to is a fascinating conceit brilliantly realized.

Ghosts from the past pop up in the strangest places, few more disconcerting than your child's kindergarten classroom. The shock of seeing Jack again forces Dennis to confront, and ultimately allows him to let go of, wounds from his past. The novel setting is used most effectively.

The fascinating art of constructing a crossword puzzle Is layered over with an absorbing personal narrative to give this piece both momentum and humor that builds to pathos. As the Puzzlemaker rethinks and revises entries the audience is forced to rethink the emotional cues that have been laid out before. This is a brilliantly structured and deeply compelling tour de force for a solo performer.

Parenting is tough under the best of circumstances, but it becomes almost impossible with a history as complex as Paul and Stephanie's. The conversation between these two very different fathers unfolds naturally as does the rising tension between them. That tension collapses quite movingly with Paul's reveal. This play offers a thorough and gripping exploration of the struggle one father faces.

A fantastical play about the power of memory and how that power can also become a prison. There is magic and lyricism throughout leading to a most magical but also most ambivalent ending. This is a work of real charm and imagination.

Mel Brooks once said, "The only way to get even with anybody is to ridicule them. So, the only real way I could get even with Hitler and company was to bring them down with laughter." Morey Norkin successfully takes the same approach to contemporary white nationalist Holocaust deniers. I hope that his optimistic ending has real world application.

An eerie and potent exploration of the meaning of immortality, its appeal and its costs. The narrative is perfectly paced and Micah's loneliness is haunting. The final moments feel both surprising and inevitable. All-in-all a superb and subtle bit of gothic horror, leavened with humor.

it's certainly possible to take an obsession too far, as Giles certainly does. The build as ice cream flavors become progressively more ... novel is most amusing.

Sam gets way more than he bargained for in the latest set up by his friend Angie. The funny, natural dialogue between the two friends becomes fraught with the arrival of Pat. The ensuing confusion is great fun.

Cyrano meets Dr. Doolittle in this wonderfully lunatic romantic comedy. So many witty lines lead up to Raphio's insanely bad advice and Nora's even funnier blow up. Patrick's surprising response is truly delightful. All-in-all great fun.