Recommended by Kim E. Ruyle

Donna Stuccio writes great cop stories. This is one! Terrific opening: Gina, wearing dress blues, encounters Danny, another police officer, who’s relieving himself in a sink. Great setting: church basement, a funeral for a fellow officer going on above them. Dialogue is sharp, snappy, and quickly gives us the picture about a relationship that’s gone wrong. But then (Is it really God and the Virgin Mary interceding?) the ground shifts, and we’re left with a beautifully unresolved but hopeful ending. No deux ex machina here – Stuccio gives a story that feels all too real. Fantastic!

How do two homeless teenagers survive on the streets? In Uneven Sides of a Triangle, Miah and Temin do so by stumbling into a squat, Minnie’s makeshift home in an abandoned warehouse. Minnie’s much older and has suffered her own knocks in life, but she’s acquired some wisdom and discipline along the way and becomes the base, the foundation of this unlikely triangle. This is a sad story, but rather than a tragedy, Marj O'Neill-Butler gives us a touching story of redemption and hope.

The inspiration of Hopper’s painting and the detailed references to 1920s NYC landmarks and people enrich this meeting between sisters. With the sharing of dresses as a launching pad and recurring theme, their conversation reveals so much about their relationships, their family, their struggles, their desires, and, in the end, their disappointments. A very solid female-centered play.

How much to intentions count? Good intentions? What constitutes a “good” choice? All these questions are raised in Second Chances. It’s great if we get a second chance, but sometimes we need a third, as Taube so clearly illustrates in this solid 10-minute two-hander.

One Fifty gives us a lot to chew on. So, listen up. Pay attention. You don’t want to miss all the ways Martineau manipulates language and the ways researchers manipulate their subjects who aren’t allowed to question the interviewers. One Fifty is funny but also thought provoking. The research subjects weren’t allowed to ask questions, but isn’t that exactly what we should be doing?

Robbie and his family are subjected to ten plagues at a celebratory dinner. Hilarious, especially the waiter’s and sister’s comments. Ten minutes. Ten plagues. Ten meal courses, and the last one is to die for. Very creative and fun.

Goldman-Sherman pulls back the curtain on the struggles – internal and external – of a mother, No One, and her 16-year-old daughter, Doll. We are deeply touched by their frustration, their pain. Feeling invisible. Powerless. Subject to fate. There’s hope, though, especially for Doll, that they will break free from societal expectations. As a father of four wonderful daughters, this piece affected me deeply and made me consider my expectations and my hopes for them. The Boat Called 16 is a beautifully crafted, thought-provoking play.

Marital infidelity has consequences. Just ask Brook, Janice’s dimwit, Willie Stargell-obsessed husband. When Marcia arrives on the scene, things come to a head. Donnelly serves up a fast-paced, suspenseful plot, and tops it off with a shocker of an ending. Great!

Jonna/Jack deals with the afterlife and reincarnation, but at its core, it’s about compatibility, long-term – even everlasting – compatibility. Jonna has cats and is into woo-woo spiritual stuff. Seems like a pretty good reason for Jack to reconsider marriage, until, that is, he gets a glimpse into alternative past lives. Arianna Rose gives us something meaty to chew on: What really makes for compatibility? It's certainly more than alliterative names. Excellent.

In #Blessed, Lainie Vansant deftly tackles sensitive topics without a heavy hand. Beth and her daughter, Kaylee, bump up against each other and the issues of social media, teen pregnancy, social status, and self-promotion. Beth might not impress Kaylee with her tech savvy, but in the end, perhaps she redeems herself. Nicely done.