Recommended by Steven G. Martin

Hansen's adaptation of the Brothers Grimm's fable "The Children Who Played at Slaughter" is horror and religious allegory.

There is never a sense of safety in this short play. The dialogue breaks back and forth, the actions constantly build on top of one another, almost out of control. Hansen shows the youthful energy of these characters -- all children under age 13 -- and their deadly zeal.

"The Children Who Played at Slaughter" is difficult and horrifying. The language and actions of these youth will shock you. But consider the religious allegory, and it becomes a story of (costly) salvation.

In a minute, Scott Sickles establishes character and backstory, and paints a tiny-yet-bighearted portrait of camaraderie and a burgeoning friendship among three people. It's direct, matter-of-fact, upbeat, inclusive, and sweet. It's refreshing.

Misery doesn't love company, people do. This is an embrace for those who attend weddings without a +1 by their side.

By telling this tale of personal greed, priorities, motivation, and marriage as a fable, Hansen makes it more universal and harder hitting. These characters are archetypes, there is a moral. It's about as direct as a play can be, and it's even more wonderful because of it.

Julia Specht draws in the audience with what starts as a farce of the extravagantly rich, their decadence, and their ridiculous manners and social mores. But what starts as a spoof turns serious and, frankly, sad as servant Bess becomes Specht's focus.

A scathing look at the rich and spoiled, an empathetic view of the poor and hopeful, "i believe in a republic in which money has a great deal to say." is about class in America.

Merilo has created a dark and dangerous short play. It is one thing to read a story by Edgar Allan Poe, it is another to be completely surrounded by one, as in Merilo's wonderful adaptation that will make an audience feel uneasy, uncertain, and unnerved.

"Balconies" is all about subtlety and subtext. Strayer provides just enough for an audience and the actors to realize the attraction between the characters. This is terrific.

This is a Romantic play about awe, grandeur, beauty, scale, scope, and transformation.

Sickles shows us a character who is so enraptured by his surroundings and things so everlasting and glorious that nothing else matters, even immediate physical pleasure. A bare stage never looked so glorious.

Lynett's storytelling skills are on magnificent display. Lynett uses staging, structure, dramatic irony and interweaving dialogue to showcase a character who, perhaps, is having second thoughts about her current life and reliving memories of her past. Lynett's love for this character, though, is balanced. She doesn't lead the audience to make judgments about either of the two scenarios.

Meet Bridey, whom B. E. Turner shows to be the most self-centered, proud, and oblivious person in New Zealand. "Bridezilla" is brief, tart, and lean farce.

Hoke unfurls the dramatic irony of "Are You Happy Here?" slowly and with care. Through finely detailed dialogue, the audience will see the other shoe hovering overhead, ready to drop. It's a shame for Paolo that he doesn't. This is marvelous dark comedy.