Recommended by Doug DeVita

Hageman perfectly captures the strained relationship between a father and son with diametrically opposed beliefs in this beautifully elegiac short play; it’s wonderfully strange yet absolutely appropriate that the one thing that brings these two together is also the thing that drives them apart. Lovely, moving, heartbreaking, and magical.

I had the overture to Mozart’s LE NOZZE DI FIGARO playing softly in the background as I read this, and it was oddly, inappropriately appropriate. The joyful merriment of the overture perfectly accompanied the joyful, almost anarchic merriment of Sickles' imaginative, largely dialogue and song-free mini-musical. And to throw another composer into the mix, it’s delightful, it’s delicious, it’s delovely.

Who can resist a documentary-making, grudge-holding cow named Caroline? Although, as she points out, her real name is Wilhemina. Damn those know-it-all humans. Ostensibly about life on a failing farm and the pros and cons of raw vs. unpasteurized milk, playwright Amy Bernstein’s over-arching point of view – which is Caro... uhm Wilhemina's point of view – is we’re all pretty clueless and should just step aside and let animals rule the world. Bernstein makes her point using language just heightened enough to be theatrical without being precious, her richly drawn characters, and a wonderfully sly, dark humor.

Purple prose and yellow journalism are used to deliciously lurid effect in this endlessly fascinating southern gothic mystery/thriller. McBurnette-Andronicos builds the tension slowly and surely, every now and then throwing in a curve ball to keep us off balance, and ultimately delivers a completely satisfying, sensationally entertaining piece of period Americana, except this sure as hell ain’t Mayberry. I loved every colorful word.

What a beautiful fable Debbie Lamedman has created with this play; its fantasy elements, slightly stylized language, sly sense of humor, and wonderfully realized characters combine to create a dazzling theatrical world any one of us would be thrilled to enter. As a piece for young audiences it is perfect; for the rest of us it is a beguiling invitation to renew our childlike sense of adventure, wonder and hope.

Sprawling yet intimate, heartbreaking yet life affirming, this play about grief benefits from Darling’s warts and all portrayal of Maggie, her protagonist, and an ensemble of equally well-drawn characters – all of them dealing with their grief in their own idiosyncratic ways. Deftly handled from beginning to end.

Conspiracy theorists and their theories get quite a workout in this audacious and brilliant dark comedy. Brendan Bourque-Sheil uses humor like a stealth weapon here; when you least expect it, a breathtakingly funny yet pointedly apropos line pops up, and you’re left gasping with laughter and admiring the skillfully deployed wit. Taut and smart, this is another winner from Bourque-Sheil.

Lamedan tackles teen-age angst, depression, and (possible) suicide with an urgency befitting the subject, but also with humor and charm. Both tugging at and striking the heart with its precise aim, the simple setting and five beautifully drawn characters make this a natural for production in schools everywhere.

Charming and romantic, with two prickly but inevitably adorable characters any actors would give their eye-teeth to play, this is simply lovely from start to finish. Precise in its time and place, it is nonetheless easy to stage and deserving of its (many) productions. Maybe it's time for a revival?

Noir-ish cops? A damsel in distress? A creepy old house off the main road? Mad Lesbian Scientists? Dogs? I’m so in for this hilarious spoof of old-fashioned radio drama, complete with old-fashioned commercials. (And oh, those commercials!!!) This piece is just so much wonderful, silly, creepy fun! And what fun for its cast and sound effects manager, too. Turn the dial, turn up the volume, turn down the lights, sit back, and enjoy.