Recommended by Christine Foster

A taut and moving examination of love under the ultimate stress - survival. Sickles keeps the clock ticking in imaginative and realistic ways as the odds are stacked against the protagonists, and ultimately pulls off an uplifting resolution. Compelling and satisfying.

A wistful rumination not just on missed recognition and lost opportunity in the theatre - but on aging itself. Above all this is a lovely and loving tribute not only to the profession but to accepting the passage of time perhaps not with entirely 'gracious' regret, but with wry wit and self deprecation.

Charming "motor-mouth" Hailey steps up to the plate to selflessly help her clueless Dad propose to his unimaginative girlfriend, Sandra. Hailey may be a teen but she has a way better grasp of patience, empathy and timing than either of the adults. It's a funny and touching piece and we smile as she becomes alternately frustrated and amazed at what fools these grown-ups be.

A gutsy teen, an ambitious dreamer, tries to skip the part where she pays her dues in life as she tries catch her first break. The monologue is a realistic glimpse into the psyche of this green but honest kid with "I'm gonna get there some day" tattooed on her very soul. You end up suspecting she'll make it.

Take one sister who "can never do nothing simple" and another who knows that 'crazy love' is the ultimate sanity-saver and that nothing can ever stop its unique magic, and you end up with a heart-warming dialogue between two middle-aged women, which charmingly reaffirms all the best things about family.

A fresh, perceptive piece. The speaker is baffled by the chill of Fate, but not self pitying. Despite her shaken state, she plugs away with a kind of charming, loopy philosophy, working to regain some sense of self worth with humor and insight.

May, Raleigh and their eccentric family are like a pot left on a back burner, sometimes stirred, sometimes tended - but always about to boil over. The dialogue and characterizations are flawless, intensely real, and humorous enough to make you like them all while still wanting to wring their necks. The boiling over, when it comes, is deftly plotted and satisfying. (Now I need to read to read the first two in this insightful and entertaining trilogy)

Beardsley's brilliantly conceived short play is gripping, imaginative and truly chilling. I would love to see this onstage as the audience gradually figures out that the characters are not what they seem to be, that time is not what it seems to be, and that our species' survival is not going to even be a 50-50 proposition. I had goosebumps.

All the satisfaction of what has become expected in a stereotypical, corny bedroom betrayal scene, and much, much more! Witty, playful,cheeky and huge fun.

A delightful duologue between two likable people, both in love with life. As they engage in a dream-game of possibilities we (and they) know they are impossible. But as they become swept up in the game they start to wonder if maybe, just maybe their encounter is "meant to be." The lovely arc of an ending leaves us with joyful goosebumps. A really optimistic, charming piece!