Recommended by Doug DeVita

A very simple act of kindness, a single word of encouragement... they can change the world. Or someone’s life. And this beautifully crafted little gem serves as a gentle reminder there is hope to be found in the darkest of moments, just from a simple act of kindness and word of encouragement from a stranger.

And a wonderfully snappy homeless man’s perfectly timed retorts.

Tessa is another of Jonte’s spiky, beautifully conceived characters, and it is her matter-of-fact, prickly passion that gives this lovely script an aching soul, and drives it forward to it’s perfectly right conclusion. Touching.

A tender and touching short comedy, Lucy Wang's "Tao Of Fruit" earns laughs from its delightfully realized truths, and beautifully realized characters. A winner on all counts.

This shouldn’t be as funny as it is given its graveyard dark subject matter, but the fact that one can laugh while horrified by this presciently dystopian play is a testament to Gill’s skillfully light touch, and the recognizably engaging characters he’s created. A frightening, but hilarious, work.

OMG I LOVE THIS PLAY. Every single word of it, because every single word is so recognizably, hilariously true. Even the bittersweet moments are infused with a knowing humor that propels the play forward. There is so much love here, between the squabbling sisters at the heart of the play and in the writing, it's irresistible. And, as intentioned, the roles for "fine wine" actresses (as Haas refers to them) are rich and delicious. Like a good Sunday Sauce.

An engaging family drama that, like its title implies, is both bitter and sweet, and in all the right proportions. Simply drawn, and at times very funny, this play moves one because its story and its characters are both so specific, yet universally relatable. Highly recommended.

The specificity of time, place, and characterizations in “Cooler By The Lake” give it a wonderfully poignant charm and humanity. A pleasure to read, I imagine its pleasures will multiply tenfold when staged, which I hope it will be because I’d love to see it performed.

There is obviously nothing funny about cancer, and yet in the right hands there can be much humor to be mined from the experience. Without flinching from the ravages of the disease and its soul-stripping effects on everyone in its path, O’Doherty manages to find quite a few genuinely earned laughs in this gut-wrenching tale of what one sibling will do for another. Taut, terse, and incredibly poignant.

Miranda Jonte has created a complex, prickly, frustratingly lovable heroine with Mara, and placed her in the center of a romantic comedy that bubbles like champagne spiked with just a little bit more than a touch of arsenic. "Greasemonkey" entertains by touching both the heart and the funny bone, and lets you care about Mara even as you wish she’d come to — and trust — her senses.

Smart and funny, with more than a shot of prescient possibility. This is top shelf stuff.