Recommended by Doug DeVita

A chance meeting, an amiable conversation with a stranger on a warm spring afternoon, confidences exchanged… Smith creates two entire worlds colliding with such ease, and then… well, read it. You won’t be sorry. Well, not as sorry as Linda will be.

Two words can change everything, and the two words Joe – author Paul Smith's hapless protagonist – uses in this heartbreaking script are two we all have to say at some point in our lives. And how they change everything for Joe and the antagonistic Josh is both devastating and hopeful. A beautiful two hander that builds in intensity to its surprising, but oh so right conclusion.

Samantha Marchant has so many interesting things going on in this early draft, one is left breathless in anticipation as to how she’s going to develop it. As it is, the play is endlessly fascinating, darkly funny, and beautifully structured. And the ending is, IMHO, perfect.

Well this is a fun little piece about bread, and Brie, and food allergies, and petty jealousies, and everything that makes a house party a house party and a couple a couple, and Lamedman captures this couple doing their dance perfectly, and what fun they must be to play as well as watch.

In this devilishly clever mash-up of “A Scandal in Bohemia,” “The Red-Headed League,” and “The Adventure of the Copper Beeches,” Jonathan Josephson takes us on a deliciously dizzy ride through all things Holmesian; everything about this script works as both faithful homage and brand-new adventure; I imagine when staged it will be a thrilling, massively fun delight. I particularly enjoyed Josephson’s device using three various Holmes throughout; a smart and wildly theatrical choice.

I have been in two workshops with Matthew and have watched as he developed this piece into the magical, moving, stunning work that it has become. Read it, revel in its sense of wonder and theatricality, and produce it.

The masterstroke in this devastating gem is the waiting at the top of the show. Aside from being a wonderful challenge for an actress and director, it perfectly prepares us for the surprisingly swift, sharp conclusion. Bravo, Steve.

J. Lois Diamond writes with eloquent economy, and this swift-moving, episodic look at Indira Gandhi's mother Kamala Nehru's fight to end India's Purdah is a touching and illuminating portrait of a strong woman who begat an even stronger one. Haunting and beautifully rendered.

The puns don't stop in this typically Busserian laughfest, which despite its ancient setting and anything-for-a-laugh tone makes quite a sharp comment on our current culture of entitlement and authoritarian stupidity. Release the Karen, indeed!

The beauty of Martineau’s visual imagery works in tandem with the beauty of his language in this incredibly moving and thought-provoking script which delivers the play’s message without ever becoming preachy; instead, we are given gentle, little hammer taps of common sense and hope. A lovely, smart, and necessary work.