Recommended by Donna Gordon

The metaphorical comparisons work well here. The characters are nicely delineated and this flows like the sea that is portrayed. The effect is poetic.

Mansour writes a grand theme, about the justification for war. She specifies the subject well, even though she doesn't name the characters. That works well because war touches all of us in one way or another. She involves the audience, a nice touch, and uses the symbol of water and swimming to unify her characters. Mansour's knowledge of the areas she speaks about is a bonus for the plot.

Deities takes place in Medieval/Elizabethan times. Ms. Rinear paints a surprisingly modern portrait of the great Queen Elizabeth. Much tension arises between representatives of the Catholic Church and Elizabeth and her Protestant views. The life and death situations that so easily arose in the royal households of the time are brilliantly captured. Mysteries surround religion here in ways that become vividly realistic. The language is not mock-aristocratic but is dignified and seems historically correct.

This is dramatic writing at its best. With just three characters she builds a plot that fascinates. The ending is not what you would expect so there's the element of mystery too. The tension between the three is palpable and that's what makes this play much more than a situation comedy. It's not a tragedy either, so it defies labeling but would keep an audience on the edge of their seats.

"Currency" has the absurd touch, but it's not so exaggerated that you can't understand it. The characters, despite insurmountable odds, stay together for love. Can love survive in the modern world we live in, or in the surreal world developed by the writer? There is symbolism here, especially with the large room used as the setting: we can get lost in this world and there's insecurity in making plans. This has always been true, but Ms. Webb brings in innumerable references to current and complex work and home situations that make it nearly impossible for the characters to focus.

"The Chisera" is a successful combination of well-drawn characters, ecological debate, and modern and past worlds. To put all this together takes research and careful writing. Knowledge of Indian lore and spirituality (from the local Paiute/Shoshone) tribes whose native environment Ms. Cizmar uses for her play's background, is very interesting and unusual. The lighting used would be beautiful and any audience couldn't ask for anything more artistic. The combinations in this play are great.

"Ripe Frenzy" is a painful look at the American tragedy of mass school shootings. In America, this crime has terrified the young and adult alike, time after time, shown in media projections blending the bizarre and the brutally realistic. Jennifer's play is also a media projection, in fact it uses the Go Pro, to describe the details of a son's entry into the annals of youthful depravity. There are no excuses here for the crime, but, rather, a realistic depiction of parental and societal disbelief that this could ever happen. The confusions and misunderstandings are blatantly clear.

This historical look at Cuba just prior to the revolution is made even more interesting by its mix of cultures. A Japanese man and his Cuban wife reveal the necessary compromises they have made when caught by economic forces. Necessities and a child between them force them into a marriage more of convenience than devotion. Their daughter enters a time when she must choose between cultures, and between the political figures who enter her life. She becomes a symbol of decisiveness in the vague and disturbed world in which she lives. This play is brilliantly written with stunning dialogue.

This is an accurate portrayal of brothel life and should make us all compassionate toward those who are sold into the sex trade. I was amazed at the honesty women in this community can have toward each other. They seem to respect each others' decisions. There's also a certain morality here in that those who offend the personhood of another are destined to self destruct. The value in this play lies in exposing the incomprehensible demoralization women in the sex trade face on a daily basis.

Caitlin Turnage successfully treats the themes of disability and racial profiling. I enjoyed her method of comparing the natural effects of weather cycles on the New Mexico landscape to the emotions of the inhabitants of this barren land. She captures the colloquial speech of her characters quite well, and much of her dialogue qualifies as poetry. She reveals the importance of communication through the tragic silence of a mute girl, and also through the barriers between her characters of different skin colors.