Recommended by Doug DeVita

Oh, the humanity of the sainted. The unvarnished, dirty little secrets of one exceptionally lauded nun in a third world country are exposed in this hilarious rumination from John Busser, here working with his usual rapid fire sense of humor intact but with deeper layers of meaning, layers that lift the piece into the realm of the seriously sublime. Every single word works on two or three levels at once, and the result is intoxicating. To say I love this play is an understatement; it may well be my favorite Busser work. So far.

At times whimsical, at times sobering, Rachel Leighson gives us an inventively conceived look at the process of egg donation from the viewpoints of the donor child, an egg, and a uterus. Both funny and sad, it's a wonderfully theatrical work and I recommend reading it quite highly.

Judy Pancoast's GIRL ON THE MOON is an absolutely delightful addition to the Youth Musical genre: bright, peppy, and with a delicious score, it takes on serious themes with intelligence, wit, and a lightness that's both infectious and disarming; although set in 1969 (the period details are wonderfully apt but not overwhelming), it nonetheless tells a contemporary and universal story which speaks to all ages. Terrific!

Devastating, filled with ugly truths and heartbreaking personal revelations – but somehow beautiful in its bravery – JOEY is an incredibly difficult but incredibly necessary read. Bravo, Joe. BRAVO.

We should all write a play as good as Vince Gatton's BETTER. That's all I have to say, except maybe I wish I'd written it.

This stunning solo play is one of the most powerful, persuasive, and painfully heartbreaking cries for gun control I've ever read. Intensely personal in its approach, Miller's script is a gut-wrenching exploration of the after effects of needless loss on a grieving father's psyche, and a tour de force for the actor performing it. Read it. Produce it. Listen to it.

JB Miller's dark farce is by turns hilarious, horrifying, and heartbreaking, sometimes all three in a single line of dialogue. Miller deftly explores what happens when parents get involved in their children's squabbles, and his set up is so natural that you willingly follow along as everything gets more and more complicated; suddenly you realize you've fallen down the rabbit hole into a kind of psychosexual wonderland. You don't quite know how you got there, but you don't mind because it's all so wild, weird, and wonderfully funny. Bullseye!

Osmundsun writes exquisitely conversational exposition; his dialogue doesn't just "get the job done," it tells several stories all at once, it hints at deeper layers that are mined with cutting precision, and it turns what could in lesser hands be considered political "soap-boxing" into a passionate plea for understanding. Beautifully handled all the way.

About as sharply incisive a play about loss, denial, grief, and despair as one can get, Lamedman still imbues this script with a lightness that makes it all the more compelling – and haunting. A deeply moving, truly gorgeous work.

“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”
— John Keats

And Lermond’s touching ode to later life change, while not in the least having anything to do with a Grecian Urn, is all about the truth in beauty and the beauty in truth. A deceptively simple piece, and simply wonderful from its first page to its last.