Recommended by Matthew Weaver

You know all bets are off when the stage directions call for the bloody carcass of a sandhill crane. A cacophony of strangers descend upon a B&B in Oregon. Carnes does us the favor of putting a bunch of people together and lets them just bounce off of each other. Everyone has their own agenda (some of them hidden). Particularly intriguing are co-owner A'hn, trapped in the middle of nowhere; young Soren, recovering from a recent surgery, and Sarah, who has particular motives for participating in this weekend. Carnes doesn't shy from topical issues. A grand ensemble piece.

A strong, humorous, melancholy take on the world and its problems, as viewed by two regulars at the local bar. Danley does a lot, at first with very little movement, and then with a beautiful choreographical challenge. She also captures - acutely - the desire to both try something brand new and the tendency to fall back on the familiar, suggesting that this keeps us from living up to our potential. Sharp and vivid, with a timing faintly reminiscent of David Ives (a very good thing in my book), but in a style all Danley's own. Vibrant and very cool.

Taut, raw. Hoke - a master at unearthing hidden depths and dimensions of her characters and interesting scenarios - here turns her gaze onto Vincent Van Gogh in his darkest moment. This is an intimate play, and just because we know what's coming - "Where is my ear?" - Hoke makes us feel like we're truly there, and seeing what actually happened. She takes a historical detail virtually the entire world knows and finds the heartache and the humanity within.

Quirky in all the best ways. We have been Rain and Isaac. Heck, we ARE Rain and Isaac. Kras uses a unique cadence in his dialogue that really sucks the audience in. The characters are breaths of fresh air, completely realistic and not voices usually seen on the stage. We see their progress over the course of a year as they slowly bond with each other - like Isaac says to Rain, "So it's not like really a thing that we have to like/ Know about each other." Kras slowly pulls back the layers to reveal hidden, wonderful depths.

An interesting and compelling imagining of the Ford's Theatre acting troupe in the hours following Lincoln's assassination. Everyone has something to hide, everyone has their own motivations, everyone has secrets. The military won't allow them to leave. An engaging drama intermingled with actual historical fact. An intense thriller in the most unexpected of settings.

"Come on. It's 2016. Dudes can pet other dudes." Every time I thought I knew where this short play was going, it zagged instead of zigged. Hilarious, just the right blend of heart and naughty wickedness. Mullen takes a bizarre concept and just keeps raising it to new heights, and yet every single odd step makes perfect sense. And he makes it look absolutely easy the entire time. Truly, he is a master absurdist. Certain to be a genuine crowd pleaser.

"Theatre management reminds the audience that we can do this sort of thing." Transformative. Martin depicts an artist's first, fumbling steps into wonder as Benny V. - a man who should have died two years ago, our host compere tells us - discovers painting, dining, cooking, travel, the stars. Boldly, Martin allows Benny to make mistakes, before showing us the battle for Benny's very soul, as enemy forces work to kill his spirit. Benny's joy is Martin's joy is our joy. The play's enthusiasm is infectious. Martin takes the pure feelings of every playwright and sets them to paper. Extraordinary.

A nice moment between two sisters on the cusp of important milestones in their relationships. Sickles portrays the opposite ends of the experience spectrum equally, without judgement, and the love between Bonnie and Savannah shines through every moment. Think of two of your most powerhouse performers and imagine what they could do with this, then set them loose to play.

A genius idea, so simple and yet so original, and told in absolutely fun, light fashion. Handled in such a manner that this is virtually family friendly. I could actually see this being used to great effect in sex ed classrooms. Williams goes the extra mile and has his STD ... heroes definitely doesn't seem to be the right word ... wondering how they'll protect their turf from the incoming, bigger, badder slate of sexually transmitted diseases, the Incurables. Brilliant. That sound you hear is a bunch of playwrights kicking themselves that they didn't come up with the idea first.

A fun twist on the current political climate. And what a dilemma for T! I particularly enjoyed T and Hayes running through the alphabet for alternative name options. Cathro's short is hysterical, yet also pays tribute to the heartbreak that comes from his loss of his identity - why should he be the one to change? Ends with T holding his agent accountable for his political decisions himself; Hayes' response is telling. I see this fitting right in to many politically-themed festivals, offering a different perspective. I had the pleasure of reading this for the Trade a Play Tuesday program.