Recommended by Paul Donnelly

This is a devastating portrait of a true monster mother and the lengths to which she will go to retain control over her sons. This family's painful history spills out over the course of the night before the mother is to be evicted from her home. This deadline creates a sense of urgency that spurs heated emotions. There were moments in this play that had me shaking and the whole of it has left me deeply shaken.

What a powerful drama of the costs and gifts of encroaching mortality, of trauma and healing, of grace and connection. This play is populated by vivid, complex, and compelling characters whose journeys it is a privilege to share. The sense of urgency created by Brian's ALS informs every beat. I was riveted and moved throughout.

Three recently deceased college students, each flawed, but striving, find themselves in a purgatorial dorm room. Their demon host sets a high stake quest before them. How they each react to the quest and to an exploration of their histories is the meat of this suspenseful, compelling, and often very funny play.

A lovely meditation on the afterlife as a point of ending and a point of departure. The family connection between one recently deceased soul and one soul waiting to be born is movingly revealed. There's also plenty of humor and, of course, memories of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Poor Desdemona followed her passion and paid the ultimate price. She returns to offer advice to save others from her ill-fated path. But will anyone consumed by love/lust ever really listen to their father?

Like all great farces, Physical Education builds reveal upon reveal and complication upon complication. The simple premise of a young couple in love seeking parental permission to marry explodes into a jumble of complex relationships among the various characters. Efforts to maintain secrets are especially comical, but the entire piece builds wittily to a rip-snorting climax.

These four students face the daunting task of reviewing a well-known historical case and evaluating it in terms of contemporary protocols and procedures. Their clearly delineated personalities and the subtext of their relationships add texture and interest to their work together. The Ruth Ellis case is riveting and the application of modern standards raises many questions about the case. The unresolved curtain will certainly lead to animated debate among readers and audience members.

There are memories that conjure sweet sepia-toned nostalgia and memories that scald and burn into the present. "Guten Tag, Baby" has both. Four vividly drawn characters make their way though memories that are overfamiliar and memories that offer shocking revelations. We are left to wonder how or if Vivienne will incorporate her new knowledge into her current life. This is a splendidly crafted and affecting work.

How satisfying to see a smug, insufferable, misogynistic prick get his just desserts. Mark is appalling and totally credible. Sophie and Marnie prove to be worthy foils. I also enjoyed the spirited defense of playwriting as a art.

What seems like a fiendishly clever satire on the foibles of a novice author turns out to be something else entirely with a witty reversal. Ben's neediness is palpable and Tara's dilemma is highly sympathetic. I enjoyed Lit Crit tremendously.