Recommended by Paul Donnelly

Wow. It's amazing what a skilled writer with something to say can do in a minute. These five people are bonded by the same shared and isolating trauma. The trauma itself is highly imaginative and very vivid. A really compelling read.

The mystery of what the red door means consumed me for every beat of this slightly absurdist domestic dramedy. The comfortable and the threadbare exist side by side in Ever and Perry's relationship. The door offers a startling intrusion that grows ever more seductive and menacing. Perhaps it doesn't matter what it means so much as that it means and that it effects Perry and Ever profoundly.

This play speeds by in a gripping and thoughtful minute, laced with flashes of humor. There is real richness and depth in the brief narrative.

The Bear's adventures grow ever more glorious and his slightly off-kilter understanding of events ever more humorous. His vampire aspect is put to particularly excellent use. It will be a dark day indeed should Jonathon learn to be more careful with the Bear.

The Bear's ego runs hysterically amok as he attempts to take Manhattan (the Bronx, and Staten Island, too). His ultimate comeuppance is the funniest bit in a very funny monologue.

The Vampire Teddy Bear origin story is worthy of the whole Bear series. The satire of vampire mythology is most engaging and, as always, the narrative leaves me eager to join the Bear's next adventure.

Life is not easy when one is a Vampire Bear. The Bear enumerates the indignities he has suffered and would gladly suffer again to escape the creeping sunlight. Although saved by a deus ex machina, one wonders what is in store next for the Bear.

A lovely play about two women whose complimentary needs enable them to start a mutually beneficial friendship after what first appear to be irreconcilable differences. It is heartening to see these clearly drawn and diametrically opposed characters break through to moments of real connection. It is difficult to form new friendships as one ages, so kudos to Noreen and Wendy for doing so.

Generational trauma can have enduring consequences as Joe Swenson illustrates in this harrowing drama. Dustin loves his kids, but struggles mightily with his addiction. The riveting interaction between Dustin and the ghost of his late father makes clear the genesis of his dilemma and seems to offer the vaguest stirring of hope. This is a powerful and honest play that has left me shaken.

What horrors the Bear recounts so vividly! The immediacy and urgency of his narrative gripped me by the heart and didn't let go. The Bear's slightly skewed perspective adds another layer of poignancy to his description of events that we understand only too well.