Recommended by Doug DeVita

The war between dog and cat lovers doesn’t get any more fierce or gruesome than in Sylvia’s kitchen. Using hilarious aphorisms such as “I was a nice glass of wine, and he was a kind of cheese,” to describe Sylvia’s relationship, Gacinski turns the tables when her husband brings a dog into her cat centered world, and things come to a lethally rapid boil. A dark, twisted, horrifying, and funny minute of theater, and a great monologue for an actress to chew on. I’m now going to hug and hold my dog close.

Engaging, enchanting, and theatrically exciting, Steven G. Martin's "The Subtle, Sublime Transformation of Benny V. is pure delight from start to finish. I was caught up in the world Martin created, a world populated with wonderful, sharply drawn characters whirling around the adorable Benny V., an everyman to love, root for, and cheer as he realizes his own self-worth. A beautiful play.

A terrific short play about the emotional cost of realizing a long-held dream, George Kelly’s “Facing Backward” perfectly captures the unsettling sense of loss in the face of a major win. Beautifully handled throughout, with a wonderfully funny but heartbreakingly apt conclusion.

"The Burdens" is a wonderfully dark two-hander, nearly farce-like in its rhythms and premise. Schatz spins his tale of two murderous siblings with a sure sense of the comedic possibilities, and there are laugh out loud moments on every page. Easy to produce, two great roles, and sure-fire laughs make this a gem for production.

There's such a wealth of feeling in Gacinski's "Red-Pilled," particularly in the beautifully drawn relationship between Ben and Brian, the two brothers at the heart of this story of overwhelming loss and the search for any way out of the accompanying pain. As this is a work in-progress, I'm looking forward to watching as Gacinsky develops and refines this piece; it already packs an emotional wallop.

A period drama in the vein of "Amadeus" and "Les Liaisons Dangereuses," Wallerstein's "Poetic Justice" more than holds its own with those estimable works, telling its tale of court intrigue, seduction, and betrayal with a sure sense of time, place, and maliciously delicious fun. Stylish, literate, and entertaining, I imagine this would be a knockout when staged.

Another sublime slice-of-life moment from the sublimely honest Daly, "Joy" is so full of joy, apprehension, and emotionally honest feeling it's astonishing she accomplishes it all in less than 5 pages. Could/should be a curtain raiser for her wonderful full-length "Doppelgänger," which if you haven't read, you should.

I LOVE Film Noir. I LOVE Stage Noir. And I LOVE this play! Weaver's supreme achievement here is he has made the piece appropriately moody and dark, with all the requisite twists, turns, and coincidences, and yet keeps it light, tight, and hilariously, laugh-out-loud funny. And Ace Valentine, his title character detective, is the most brilliant twist of all: the Miss Adelaide of the Noir World, one can't help but fall in love with her, root for her, and want to force chicken soup into her perpetually sneezing, cold-infected, donut-stuffed soul. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!

Taut, intense, and provocative, Richard Lyon Conlon’s “Everything But Dead” is a ballsy look at an impossible decision, with an ending that shocks not only because it’s ethically wrong, but because it is so emotionally satisfying.

Evan Peterson's "Smaller Floods" is a haunting, poetic, and beautiful reminder that nourishment comes in many forms and is not only necessary for ecological survival, it is necessary for humanity's soul, as well.