Recommended by Philip Middleton Williams

The most disturbing element in this series is Joey's refusal to fight back. Disturbing, but given the situation, understandable. His stoicism and suffering in near-silence demonstrate a strength that ten-year-olds seem to have as well as his shrugging acceptance of his punishment and abuse are what keep him alive and somehow have hope that he will survive. He has to, and as he realizes that there is a world outside his prison, we begin to see the glimmer not only of hope, but of escape and retribution.

The damage has been done, but like many wounds to both the body and the mind, the healing can happen with care, attention, and time. Joey's strength is more than just enduring the physical and mental abuse. It is in the hope that he has placed in his own abilities to withstand them. The suspense is not just in the telling of the tale, but in seeing the hope, however faint, begin to grow that deliverance will come.

The harrowing sensation running through this play -- indeed, the entire series -- is that it is not over. That the torture, the pain, the dread of anticipation will continue unabated. In a way I hope against hope to find out more and that karma, if not justice, comes through for Joey.

What it must have taken for Joe Swenson to tell this story makes me shudder, but then, telling the tale is, for some, an element of recovery, of vindication, and of reclamation. My heart goes out to him and anyone else who suffered the unimaginable.

Pain and trauma, isolation and loneliness can make us create another world for ourselves. It's not so much escaping as it is acceptance of a new reality where the life in small doses and counted by marks on a wall -- something seen when someone is incarcerated and life is numbingly predictable. In this moment in the series, Joey's acceptance of his fate is not without hope -- what else is there? -- but his inability to reveal the worst of his traumas even to Imaginary Friend fills us with dread at what is kept secret.

In this second entry in the series, the Imaginary Friend becomes an integral part of this story and Joey's ability to deal with the harrowing abuse at the hand of his captor. There is a clinical term for it; disassociation, I think, that is used to escape from the brutality, and this becomes a most effective way of explaining, of rationalizing the inhumanity that Joey is going through. As a way to tell the story, it is powerful. As a way of life, it is terrifying.

The suspense in this beginning of the series is palpable, and as seen through the eyes of a five-year-old, there is no room for nuance: everything is binary: yes or no, real or imagined. The problems of the adults are abstracts to Joey, and his imaginary friend is as real as the toy truck is playing with. That is what makes this story so real and harrowing.

"How sharper than a serpent's tooth... " -- King Lear knew whereof he spoke, but in this short work by DC Cathro, the message of chastisement for an ungrateful child is delivered with a gentle, even forgiving touch, but the impact is just as sharp. Maybe even more so because it is not delivered with venom, and that can be much more meaningful. Amanda and her father's relationship is so clearly shown without the storm and fury, and even the mother has a message for her daughter. I can't imagine this story handled any better than by DC Cathro.

There's a lot on the line -- so to speak -- in this taut yet tender moment as these two wait to see what their future holds. You can feel the tension and the anticipation in the air as they wait... and wonder.

Very nicely crafted with just the right amount of vulnerability and bravado, with the uncertainty that comes with knowing -- and not knowing -- what this little line will tell them.

It's bound to happen: you meet up with someone but you just can't place the name because you're both in a different environment and circumstances. So you both make polite and circumspect conversation until it slowly dawns on both of you where and when... and how. Vita Patrick Morales navigates this social minefield with fully-developed characters and great dialogue. The payoff is both unexpected and funny, and this play would be a fun piece for any ten-minute play festival.

A sweet romance between two very different people who find each other bird-watching on a rocky shore and learn that they have something in common besides an interest in puffins. Nothing about this play is overwrought or weighted down; it's light and affirming in the best way.