Recommended by Sheila Rinear

I've just been transported to another sphere while reading Jordan Elizabeth Henry's Paradoxysm. Henry's structural strength and verbal energy sustained my presence in her beautiful yet frighteningly crystallized world of mania. Protagonist Julian brilliantly filters the other characters into her arena where her conflicts with truth and reality seem mysteriously sane. I really want to see a production of this play.

Donna Hoke's strong story and endearing characters pulled me right into the world of a couple trying to define their relationship so they can decide what they can live with/put up with in order to have that relationship. The honesty with which they assess themselves is hilarious and at times, heartbreaking. I loved how this play moves along into its tensions, complications and truths so smoothly and powerfully with such nuanced simplicity.

Brilliant Works of Art, a tale of intrigue, love, artistic introspection, and expediency, moves at lightning speed without ever losing its sense of intimacy. The credible yet unpredictable characters build and unravel their tightly-knit triangle in some of the smoothest dialogue I've read in a while. The small cast in this full-length play provides a terrific venue for actors to plumb the depths of their characterization.