Recommended by Doug DeVita

A powerful ten-minute play that steadily builds tension, made even more poignant — and painful — by the knowledge of Anna Mae’s imminent disappearance and eventual death. Riveting.

The blackest of black comedies, one could see this as an actual game show, which in itself makes a statement about the statement Wang makes with this jaw-droppingly astute and horrifyingly funny short play. It’s awfully wonderful.

A delightful throwback to the golden years of screwball comedy routines, one can easily imagine George Burns and Gracie Allen having a field day playing these roles. Or any other comic duo lucky enough to sink their teeth into this delicious little charmer.

In less than ten pages, Franky Gonzales chronicles the history of fatherhood, and he does it with gut-wrenchingly brutal honesty. At times funny, at times upsetting, and always moving, this is a beautiful ten minutes, and a tour de force for any actor lucky enough to be the husband.

A legal dilemma clashes with an ethical one in this taut drama in which there are no easy answers or solutions. Bicknell’s terse dialogue keeps the tension building right up to the end. Does anyone win? Can anyone win? That’s the tantalizing question hovering over the proceedings, long after Bicknell has brought the piece to its conclusion.

A wistfully humorous short piece, easy to produce and with two great roles, “Dora’s Dynamic Dates” tugs at the heartstrings while tickling the funny bone. Dynamic, yes, but also deliciously human.

There’s a lot going on in Carolee’s closet, besides all of her hopes, dreams, and plans she’s hidden from her mother in there for years. An absurdly surreal comedy, Bicknell makes one laugh not just from her hilarious premise and punchlines, but also from the underlying pathos of Carolee’s plight, which allows us to be invested in the way she slowly but surely turns the tables on her prying, overbearing mother.

Leave it to Marjorie Bicknell to write about a family so dysfunctional they literally maim and destroy each other over the course of three family parties — and make it all horrifyingly, explosively funny to boot. AND she does it moving backwards in time. One alternately gasps with laughter, with shock, and with admiration for the skill with which she’s pulled it all off.

Teen-age angst and a mid-life crisis clash on a school bus in Monmouth County, New Jersey, and the relationship between a father and his son faces its inevitable change. I don't think I've ever read as tender and honest a father-son story as Hilton has created here, and this slice-of-life, coming-of-age drama charms, yet cuts deeply by continuously peeling away layers and layers of feeling and meaning until one is gutted by the sheer sensitivity, beauty and truth invested in both the storytelling and characters. An absolutely lovely work.

A fable, a folk tale, a morality play, a revenge tragedy, a romantic drama... call it what you will, "The Most Beautiful Story" is indeed beautiful. Intensely theatrical, intensely horrifying, intensely sad, and intensely... beautiful.