Recommended by Paul Donnelly

A heedless and graceless remark illustrates the ignorance of the speaker. The object of her remark diffuses the situation with good humor and perhaps more grace than she deserves.

A caring teacher steers a young man away from a big mistake. She does so out of real concern and without judgement. A lovely portrait of a compassionate adult.

The conventions of grief are a mystery to a young child as this moving vignette makes clear. An innocent question has profound reverberations.

A thoughtful and stirring supposition of events that might have lead to the Hamlet we know. Claudius, the tortured regicide, Gertrude, the faithless queen, and Polonius, the sly courtier are revealed in three full dimensions. Noble King Hamlet is revealed to be not so noble at all. And the entire play is rendered in such rich and glorious language. All in all, a brilliantly crafted act of theatrical imagination.

A lot of laughs get crammed into only five pages in this deftly structured and feverishly paced farce.

What a lyrical and poignant celebration of the healing power of love stories. These four wounded people, with their clearly difficult lives, come together to offer one another the spiritual sustenance that gets them from week to week. I cannot overstate how truly beautiful and moving this play is.

This poignant portrait of a non-binary child's painful journey through foster care comes to a heartening and affirming conclusion. A lovely, lovely play.

Cory is one twisted avenging angel. The riffs on the classic story come fast and furious and amusingly. This is a dark but highly engaging comedy.

Ooomph. The powerful conclusion of Baba Mikey is like a sharp kick in the gut. A lovely portrait of paternal love grows darker and richer in this heart-rendingly brilliant monologue.

What a hoot! Delirious puns, a hysterical obsession, and a man on a mission are whipped up to a delightful comic meringue. The humor is sometimes sly, sometimes overt, but always spot on.