Recommended by Donna Gordon

A beautifully and poetically written celebration of life in all its seasons, this play glides between the different ages of its actors. The actors speak in a narrative fashion, which gives the writing its universal weight. The ebbs and flows remind me of what makes the English language beautiful, and also echo classical tones. Many of the images do evoke the baby boomers generation but the reach of this play is wide enough to include any age audience. Partelow has very successfully combined poetry and script and redefined both within the world of her play.

Another bravo for Andrew Case. There is so much truth in this play about what goes on in our major cities. It's amazing how everyone has a point of view, and the truth seems to allude them all. Surely we are all subject to opinion. I just hope this doesn't take away from what is kindness to each other. In this play, it seems to and this is the tragedy. A tragedy playing out on the mean streets Case so brilliantly covers.

Mr. Gill chooses an absurd scenario to make points about wrongful uses of power. Using the story of terrorists and their victims becoming friends creators a suspenseful mood that adds interest to his main ideas. The story line is very unusual and the dialogue moves it well. Though the title of the play indicates the setting, the play is really about uses and misuses of power. Victims change accordingly.

I'm noticing an interesting style used by Gill in this and another play I read of his. Mr. Gill has an excellent ear for dialogue. It's so real, yet it isn't terribly complicated. He also touches on some very difficult topics and is able to enter some humor into the conversation. I get the point so well: if we would all listen more than talk, then prejudice would not have a hold on people.

Interesting take on dating and crossing people's boundaries. Gatton captures teenage emotions and attempts to understand difficult situations. At the same time, he makes some good points for all of us to remember.

This is when we writers laugh at ourselves. I like the absurdity and the humor. And I'd put humor in big letters but someone would think I am mad. The violence doesn't need a trigger warning so you're okay there. I kept noticing your subconscious coming through when you least expected it. I'm sure you've influenced me or I couldn't write this way. And it's the truth.

There's some really good writing here, especially the monologues, a Chekhovian touch which I love. Hotels are always a great place for a murder, as everyone is a stranger, more or less, to everyone else. I hope Klass continues with her mystery who-done-it themes as theater needs people who do this well. The author gives this genre class, and audiences of all ages would enjoy this.

Bukovac writes an interesting take on class differences, though the surface theme is a daughter dealing with her father's arrest for rape in a bar parking lot The rape victim has all the advantages of education and position, while the victim has disadvantages that he has failed to overcome. Are we suppose to blame the rapist? Of course, but when we see the situation from his daughter's point of view, the tragedy of a drunkard's erratic violence is all too clear. Moreover, the victim pronounces strange theories in her college lectures which make the charges ambivalent.

Insomniacs must read this. Your situation might be worse. And who knows what the end will be for those who don't get enough sleep: health effects, unable to stay awake on the job etc. I haven't seen this problem tackled on the stage, so kudos to Rodriguez.

Touching, biting in its sarcasm, naturalistic to the extreme - those are the words I think of after reading Heavisides play. And the biggest surprise of all - humor in the midst of a garbage dump. That's not to say that this doesn't speak for the homeless as this banquet reveals, often brutally, the spirit of the disenfranchised. Does Heavisides call for justice? Yes, in most unusual ways and without wanting pity. This makes the message powerful.