Recommended by Donna Hoke

A beautiful exploration of the different ways men and women connect and grieve. So intimate, moving, and masterfully paced.

A timely piece that acknowledges all that is wrong with racial relations, and, before Mercury slips into retrograde and everything has the potential to fall apart, shines a light on the baby steps that make one set of circumstances an example of critical acknowledgment. For now. For a minute. Though the play has a timeless, ethereal quality, it bursts with an urgency that begs us to pay attention to the tiniest details of what is happening around us, because they all matter. And it does it without being preachy, and with ghosts, in an old-time diner; who doesn't love that?

Four interwoven stories that paint a comprehensive picture of Internet connectivity--the good, the bad, the seamy, the false starts, the false fame, the fantasies, and realities--that will leave you wondering about the quality of your own relationship with the Internet, and with other people. And oh yeah, really funny, too. Great read!

I've read a lot of plays about suicide, but never one quite like this. I was taken by the journey of Bonita as she struggles to find her place after her jump from a pier; this is something we never see with so many plays focusing on the survivors. Hilder's juxtaposition of the journeys of Bonita and the husband and son she left behind are a poignant and troubling illustration of the notion of a "permanent solution." Is it--for anyone?

What a beautiful play! McKeever assembles a seemingly disparate cast and stirs them up, allowing them to bristle and bump while the relentless Miami heat works to soften their edges until they're no longer sharp enough to cut. The structure, perfectly suited to the play's content, imbues MELT with layers of history and culture that strengthen its resonance and universality. I would love to see a production of this.

Opening at Buffalo United Artists was a stunning night that made everyone in the room remember why we love theater. The cast was sobbing, the audience was on its feet--sobbing--because we'd all just had that rare experience that allowed us to meld with story and cast, be moved in unexpected ways, rethink what we thought we knew, and come away feeling unified in our humanity. Yes, this play does all that--and more.

I was fortunate to see an intimate and early incarnation of this show at the 2013 Dramatists Guild conference, and have just read the newest version. If possible, it's even more compelling, more precise, more haunting, more personal. You can't walk away without rethinking everything you thought you knew. A beautiful piece of work.

From the spot-on character descriptions straight through to the end, the laughs simply do not let up. Expertly wrought and exquisitely fine-tuned, this play is the rare comedy that has just as much weight as it does humor. Downs is a true talent in this arena.

What a stunningly accurate portrait of friendship and relationships and our inability to stop friends from getting hurt. Niles' page 55 monologue alone makes this worth reading, but Scott's ear for reality shines throughout.

A compelling character drawn in record time. I hope to see Don Ponzo as part of a longer work in the future