Recommended by Nora Louise Syran

From the very start it's clear there's going to be trouble in paradise...but you're never quite sure how it will all play out. Kato "passes a creative kidney stone" with this one -- full of clever quips, comic touches, a fun setting and roles for older actors.

The anthropomorphic flaming sidekicks are hilarious as are the warnings against smoking. This play will sweep you along with its humor and poetry into the mind of a young girl with ADHD who is discovering who she is and what she will do with her power of self-knowledge and acceptance.

Vansant presents us with siblings dealing with the death of their grandmother in their own very distinct ways. Their banter is lived in, as is the space they inhabit and we're brought very much into a very real moment full of poignant pangs of regret and of grief which can only propel them forward as the curtain closes. Good on you, Gran!

You will care so deeply for all of these characters. Even the veneer of the tough-guy father who is too scared is stripped away bit by bit. This piece will melt the hardest of hearts. Tender. Necessary. Bravo.

I had the great fortune of taking part in a reading of this expanded ("more words") trip into the Darkness, well the Shop, the last point of no return, anyway. My favorite is the Wood Troll and his understanding of how frightening it is to "shed our bark and show our inner green" but how we mustn't fear being vulnerable; it's the key to facing and returning from The Darkness.

Carpe diem all! Read this Mary-Poppins-like carpet bag of a magical play and get planning, moving and exploring on this, the first day of the rest of your life!

A fun short with a silly singing janitor who while, Monty-Python-like he keeps getting cut off, has been paying attention--well, sort of! Need a laugh? Stage this one.

"Here we go" indeed. Again. All it takes is a "leap" forward, always forward even though everything seems to be moving backward. Bravo, Vince Gatton for this stunning "work in progress"--isn't it all?

The imagery of Mitsuko's monologue alone could, should -- WILL -- melt even the coldest, hardest of hearts. This short piece is beautifully human and yet painfully grounded in reality, of not just the past, but of today.

I love the wild, wacky and wonderful mind of Aly Kantor...especially when it seems like she --not just her character--has consumed "enough energy drinks to make chainmail with the tabs!" I vote with my soul on this one. You will too.