Recommended by Doug DeVita

With typical Hokian aplomb and precision, THE WAY IT IS upends pre-conceived notions of sexual assault and gender conformity; what’s shocking is how vicious Hoke gets, and how quickly; this tight, tense little piece packs a lot into its 55 pages, leaving one breathless and more than a bit unsettled.

Matt Harmon's portrait of the Warsaw Ghetto circa 1941, as seen through the eyes of an imaginative mute boy, is a painfully, wondrously beautiful work of art. Brief and swift-moving, it is nonetheless layered, nuanced, and pack with tense emotion – the horrific world surrounding this child is unstintingly portrayed, as is his refusal to let it kill his creative spirit. A perfect TYA, it resonates for all ages and sensibilities, and if there's any justice it will be produced often.

Paul Donnelly asks us to "Think THE PHILADELPHIA STORY meets A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM," and he does write here with the delicious mix of melancholy and merriment that was the hallmark of both Philip Barry's and William Shakespeare's best work. Complicated situations and characters bounce off each other with precision, the lines are often howlingly funny, and the depth of emotion underneath it all rings true throughout. Smart, engaging, and fun.

Gleefully tossing lethally hilarious bombs at the convoluted pretensions of a playwright (perhaps ALL playwrights?), Busser's spoof causes one to explode with laughter on nearly every line and/or situation. With typical Busserian zaniness, this first-draft, second rate love story scores on all points. What a joy it would be to see staged.

As indicated in the subject matter keywords on the right, Max Gill takes on climate change, global warming, a dystopian future, immigration, the refugee crisis, and pirates (PIRATES?), and ties them all together in a savagely neat bow. Brutally funny, Gill has created a world that is completely horrifying, completely probable, and strangely, completely engaging. Another wonderful work from this master storyteller; I'd love to see this staged. Or filmed. Or both. AARGH!

Amelie ain't got nothin' on Diabolallura, or even Scott Sickles. Charming, frightening (what we learn of Diaballura makes Maleficent look like a purring kitten), and hilarious, this short piece bubbles over with Sicklesian wit and imagination, and we're all the luckier for it. Grand, magical fun.

Very few writers can turn almost unbearable pain into art with the visceral gut-punching precision of Emma Goldman-Sherman, and her short play KINDERGARDEN is a stunning work; intense, harrowing, and haunting, it may be her masterpiece.

Dark, deeply felt, and beautifully written, Gary Sunshine’s SWEETNESS captures the agony and rage of being bullied with uncompromising honesty; one can’t help but feel for these kids — even the adults in this piece are children — and want to both participate in their revenge plans and step into the action to stop them from making a huge mistake. Tense and haunting, with sharply drawn characters, SWEETNESS is one helluva play.

The bitchy, preening, and insecure egocentricity of actors (and I mean actors, not actresses) is sharply observed in this acidly affectionate spoof of Hollywood in the early 1950s. Hatfield captures the essence of the time and place beautifully, and his portraits of the actors in question are spot on. Fun.

Roberta D'Alois has written a very interesting, experimental dram about faith that is full of heart – and heartbreak. Her dreamlike approach is well-suited to her concept and structure; the juxtaposition of the very real characters and the nightmarish events they experience against the surreal setting both grounds the work yet keeps it floating through your thoughts long after you've read it. The possibilities for imaginative staging abound, as do the opportunities for gifted actors.