Recommended by Doug DeVita

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.

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.

Things escalate quickly, and hilariously, in this short gem; what gives the piece its punch is how clear-eyed Augustin is about her characters and their wants and needs. One wonders how this couple will fare in the next six months, and that lingering question lends an air of poignancy to the comedy.

Filled with lovably endearing, if fractiously irritating family members, this play is a wonderfully contemporary model of the “family drama” genre. Sharp, funny dialogue, stakes which keep rising, and those aforementioned family members all bumping off each other like balls in an out of control pinball machine, along with that beautifully quiet, perfectly pitched ending, make Fernandez’ script a winner.

Rich in visual imagery, this very very short flight of fantasy is delightful. It’s delicious. It’s delovely. The possibilities for inventive staging are as limitless as the sky through which it so effortlessly soars, and it will leave you hungry for more. And cream puffs.

A good, old-fashioned, and wonderfully entertaining mystery thriller, Bob Cooner’s delicious adaptation of an Agatha Christie short story (featuring the lovably irascible Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot) captures her intricately structured plotting as well as her dry British wit, and perfectly suits the audio drama format. One can imagine sitting by one’s radio, breathlessly hanging on every word from its intriguing beginning to its thrilling conclusion.

Oh how I love this smart, funny, and spot on monologue. Weddings are always affairs of heightened emotions, and often cursed by inept speeches “honoring” the bride and groom. Or bride and bride. Or groom and groom. Doesn’t matter. What we get here works across the boards to both entertain and school, and does so in a witty, sparkling, and scintillating manner. A champagne toast to Monica Cross!