Recommended by Paul Donnelly

Four vivid and compelling characters, each with a moving backstory, reveal three vivid and compelling fantasy worlds (one world is shared by two brothers). The fantasy worlds are coping mechanisms that allow the characters to handle the abuse and disappointments, the grief and failures, that have marred their lives. As they share the final fantasy, the possibility of healing emerges. This play takes us on a wildly theatrical and richly imaginative journey.

This play seems to become more terrifyingly prescient with each passing day. It offers a gripping look at a not too distant future when the country is run by intolerant Christian fundamentalists and other citizens are reduced to a rag-tag resistance. The world-building of this play is first rate and the characters are complex and compelling. Let us hope that this credible dystopian vision doesn't come to pass.

What seems at first to be a layered, witty and a touch supernatural portrait of a group of patients in extremis is revealed to have quite another purpose in this quirky comedy

What a withering exploration of the desperation of asylum seekers and the viciousness of the system that evaluates and usually rejects their claims. The game show format satirizes the process, but ultimately implicates the audience in its cruelty. This is a harrowing, but most urgent work.

I feel seen by this witty celebration of the writer's resilience and all the obstacles that resilience faces. They're all here, fear of rejection, actual rejection, competition, procrastination and resignation as despairing One is prodded along by smug Another. This duality encompasses the write's struggle and rings true.

This gripping play presents five complex and real human beings grappling with very different expectations of and reactions to attempts at having a child. Their emotional struggles are compelling and vividly rendered, and punctuated with moments of laugh-out-loud humor. The final bonding of two disparate characters is heartening and affirming. This piece is filled with images and situations that will stick with me for a long time to come.

What a gripping dystopian and psychological thriller. There is a unique and compelling voice at work here and credible and specific world building. The themes of the importance of dreams and the derivation of names undergird the absorbing narrative. The overarching aura of menace is punctuated by surprising and engaging bursts of humor. All-in-all an impressive display of craft.

Pedro is a man on a mission. A complex man with a complex backstory on supernatural mission. The great humor in this piece is given weight by the underlying political and socioeconomic issues that are hard to ignore. This is fun with a heart and a point.

A lot of big emotions are dealt with sensitively and honesty as Oliver and Charlotte suffer through a wedding reception. The source of Oliver's discomfort is explored quite movingly and his final faux pas is completely understandable and rings true.

What a brisk little comedy of escalating misunderstanding. A simple question sets off a chain of philosophical musings that become progressively more hysterical (in both senses). It all ends with a witty kicker.