Recommended by Doug DeVita

Composure shows Sickles doing what he does best: creating compelling characters one cares about from beginning to end, and then setting them up in a tense balancing act as they are forced to negotiate the tangled strands of their individual relationships with the central character, Fletcher Driscoll. That he does it with a swift-moving clarity is one of his greatest strengths as a playwright.

Another lyrically beautiful work from Robin; her ability to create genuine emotion with just the simplest of phrases and gestures is astonishing.

Marshall raises some very intriguing questions about both academia and race-relations, and does so with laser beam precision. No one is completely right, no one is completely wrong, and the play is both deeply satisfying and deeply unsettling at the same time because of this.

"Five Husbands" is a terrific piece of writing; very, very funny, and so truthful it hurts. Marshall captures the humanity of his sometimes less than likable characters, which gives the play its heart.

This is a lovely, truthful play, with hard-hitting yet lyrical writing from O'Brien. A beautiful work.

"Face It, or The Transmogrification of Eliza Kline" is a fast-moving, hilariously dark look into the crumbling psyche of an aging actress, written with a surgeon's skill. Funny, touching, and with Weinberg's clear-eyed, truthful gaze, this comedy takes a hard look at the truths of out youth-and-beauty obsessed culture, and has some very satisfying things to say.

"Doppegänger" is a wild, free-wheeling, no-holds-barred trip down a dark, whimsical rabbit hole of love and dysfunction; one of the clearest, and funniest, depictions of a mother-daughter relationship I've ever seen. Brilliantly crafted characters, a loosey-goosey plot that is nonetheless very tightly woven, and a sharp-eyed point of view about her subject matter shows Daly at the top of her game with this piece.

"Maid's Door" perfectly captures the universal feelings of heartache and helplessness, frustration and anxiety, rage and, ultimately, acceptance one deals with while caring for an aging, failing parent. A beautifully written piece that touches, and burns, with clear-eyed humanity.

"Carefully Taught" is an excellent play; it asks more questions than it answers (which is a good thing), and left me a little bruised, a little shaken, and more than a little bit wiser about both myself and the state of race relations in this country.

This is one of Robin's most beautifully written plays (and she writes beautiful plays). It's a tremendously moving piece; lyrically joyous, sad, haunting, and, ultimately, life-affirming. A wonderful piece of theater.