Recommended by Paul Donnelly

A slightly awkward, but warm and amusing exchange between two high school classmates at their 70th reunion builds to a poignant climax. Highly engaging and ultimately quite moving.

Going home takes on a shattering double meaning in this moving exploration of the balance between holding on and letting go. Jeen's pain and frustration and Zannie's struggle to cope are detailed with honesty and poignance. There is a powerful mix of love and melancholy and hope and despair and loss and remembrance at work here.

Every word of this monologue of numbness and encroaching grief rings true. The specificity of the details are heart wrenching (Oh that Pippin t-shirt ...). I was moved to a place beyond tears.

This searing monologue is deeply moving and grounded in long life experience. The scar on the heart is vividly portrayed and truly heart-breaking. Marj is to be saluted for her craft and her courage.

This is a lovely and poignant depiction of just what love can be and how it can be expressed tangibly. Ivan's litany is true and often amusing. The piece has a moving end that I didn't see coming.

A doctor who can't stop himself from making inappropriate jokes encounters a patient from his proctology practice at a dull cocktail party. The doctor's progressively more alarming revelations and the patient's growing discomfort make for a hilarious mix.

This witty satire drips with delicious irony. The longer Johnny stays out of public view, the more the public becomes obsessed with him. We also get a taste of his rather complicated personal life. The narrative builds with dizzying intensity to the very funny final line.

What a profound and gripping exploration of the idea of justice. What is justice? How is justice best served? What is the link between justice and vengeance? The stakes couldn't be higher for an EMT facing a moral quandary and the tension ratchets up with each twist and revelation. The final beat leaves us wondering how she finally resolves her dilemma, which is the best sort of suspense. This play received a well-acted and technically adroit production on Gather By the Ghost Light.

"You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, well, you might find
You get what you need." Berthe Morisot may not be able to get what she wants, but in marrying an honest man does she get what she needs? The yearning and desire, the ambition and the condescension shared among Berthe and the two Manet brothers is vividly rendered in this witty and absorbing play.

This is a thoroughly engaging and thought-provoking genre bending (sci-com? rom-fi?) exploration of the mystery of attraction and the impact of future knowledge on present lives. Time travel has unanticipated and quite moving consequences for Brady and Grayson as their differing expectations come to the fore. There is a unique vision at play in this wonderfully crafted narrative.