Recommended by Paul Smith

Of all Jane Austen's works, Persuasion has always been my favourite and in this well-crafted, lucid adaptation Teresa Stirling Forsyth does an excellent job of creating the story for the stage. With care it is accessible to companies with 10 or 12 actors and offers all the elegance and wit of Austen. As adaptations go, this is really up there and written with care and love.

Wow, what an extraordinary play about an extraordinary event which I had no knowledge of. Even though Lee Lawing's play enters the world of comedy and farce, that it is factually based is just amazing. Lee has created a wonderfully written off-the-wall piece of theatre which illustrates so well, this writer's aptitude for the bizarre and the wacky - I want to know more about this event now - cracking stuff!

Having read a number of his works, it has become evident that Christopher Plumridge writes roles for women so very well. Here there is a sense of foreboding and darkness, but it is the descriptive power of the words that are so impressive. A powerful piece of writing which would offer an actor a glorious lip-smacking opportunity.

A complete cracker of a play. Wonderful premise. Super dialogue. Loads of laughs. This could be the outline for a feature film! Bruce Karp is one fabulous writer and when you come up with such a fantastic idea, you already have a head start. A real gem!

This really makes you think. Think about your own youth. The things you disliked then and maybe still do. The things you hated when you were young and have influenced your life, your thinking... It's not just what is hated here, it's the fact that Cole Hunter Dzubak has the instinct to list them and share them. I can only assume this us massively personal; it is wise and honest and forthcoming and gentle and amusing and loving and brave and exhilarating. Simple and enormously effective. Many bells ring in my head with this listing. Fabulous Cole.

This is a wonderfully off-the-wall piece of writing. Brenton Kniess sets such a good scene with a serious storyline about loss and grief and weaves into it a feisty raccoon - how does the mind create this - well, it's a fertile mind with an eye to take the edge off a story of sadness. Lovely work which has left me yearning for a spin-off story about the raccoon's further adventures!

Donald E Baker's monologue feels as authentic as it gets. A period piece with a period feel and with period attitudes. The observation of childhood innocence coming to an end is exquisitely detailed and totally believable. This is a beautifully written monologue with heart - wonderful!

Forgive me if I snigger - this is very funny. In one minute Donald E Baker sets a scene, defines two characters and makes us laugh with some of the most cringy (but not unrealistic) chat-up lines. Crafting tiny pieces like this is never easy and this one more than ticks all the required elements. Tee Hee!!!1

Morey Norkin has such a wonderful sense of humour and this play illustrates it perfectly. One look down the character list and you will be laughing. Full of the 'barking mad' and the 'completely off-the-wall', this hilarious comedy of Ancient Rome is an amuse bouche of the literary kind. A cracking piece of work which should have audiences laughing in the aisles.

What a complete delight. Simple but so, so very effective. Beautifully thought through and executed to perfection. Glorious.