Recommended by Paul Donnelly

Lyrical, sensual, and with more than a touch of mystery about who are the women who prepare to kiss a sleeping boy and what is the true nature of their intentions. This play offers a fresh and truly unique take on a classic coming of age trope.

How can a simple job interview be so gripping? In The Offer, Bella Poynton provides her accomplished protagonist Grace with an escalating sequence of professional and personal dilemmas courtesy of the man who fired her from NASA five long years earlier. We are also forced to confront with Grace the real human cost of advanced space exploration. Fascinating intellectual conundrums abound!

This darkly comic take on how a child responds to the pressures of preschool admissions and parental expectations is very dark, but very richly comic. It offers the most satisfying sort of satire as moments of horror come into focus only to build to huge comic payoffs. One of the most enjoyable and satisfying short pieces I have read in some time.

Chiaroscuro or Slaying Holofernes address a regrettably timeless human concern (sexual harassment) through really gripping dramatic action. It's well-structured and compelling, juxtaposing historical and contemporary incidents to chilling effect. I can't recommend it highly enough.

This play has all the vivid intensity and hurtling sense of inevitability of the Greek tragedy being rehearsed. The key difference is that these young women ultimately stand up to the charismatic monster who might otherwise destroy at least one of them. This is a work of exhilarating craft with an exhilaratingly affirming, if hard-won, outcome.

Sam had me from her description of buying off the secretaries through her ultimate and unexpected triumph. This delightful (and occasionally surprisingly moving) workplace vignette pulls off the neat trick of providing credible and satisfying happy endings for all three characters. Holiday cheer without a trace of saccharine!

This delicious little comedy is indeed kooky in a most engaging way. It is surprising and delightful to see the way that the exchange of fortune cookie bromides that comprises most of the dialogue has actual build and reveals real character intentions. This must be laugh-out loud funny throughout in production!

A vivid and subtly terrifying exploration of self-aware privilege. The very scary story the creative writing student is presenting becomes even more horrific as its real world ramifications come into focus. Among the many exhilarating and fresh aspects of this short piece is the fact that the credibly disturbed student is a young woman who understands her own power.

What at first seems to be a completely justified revisionist take on an iconic photo evolves into a deep and rich meditation on loss and connection, without losing its focus on moral agency. Both the sailor and the nurse reveal surprising aspects of their characters and a capacity for growth. Eisenstadt remains stuck in the regrettable ruthlessness a commercial artist needs to survive.
And my lengthy recommendation doesn't do justice to the brisk wittiness of this piece!

A chilling, but undeniably accurate portrayal of the damage wrought by white fear and racism among even self-proclaimed liberals. I will never be able to look at an Obama sticker the same way again. And the poison of racism is represented skillfully in both a literal and a metaphorical sense.