Recommended by Claudia Haas

Just a delicious installment with the most delectable ending. It's hard to hug Bear through a computer but I am telling you now - it can be done. To set this magical installment in a palace just makes everything magical.

A true tale of terror beyond the deep. What do you think of when you are faced with a monster in the depths of an ocean? Partain keeps you hoping and thinking, “what if.”Deeply humanizing as you go into survival mode.

“I thought it would take longer to get old.” Me too, Bob. Me, too. I love the shortcuts these friends can take in speaking to each other, the memory jumps, the search for acceptance in where they are today. Paul Simon’s “Old Friends” played in the background as I read this. But then I tuned it out because these men are not dusty but vibrant. O’Neill-Butler deftly give us a past, a future and the in-between in a scant ten minutes. Best of all, it sings of life.

So Bear has Manhattan, the Bronx and Staten Island, too. As a former New Yorker, I would have loved to watch Bear take over the broadcasting system in NYC. Silly old Bear. Where were you when I needed you? Plumridge offers a clever romp through NYC and you wish it would never end.

George Burns and Gracie Allen could not have done this better (but wouldn’t you love to see them do this). This is all those candy message hearts come to life in a marriage proposal that means well but may have trouble with Cupid’s love arrow. McLindon shows us that the path of true love never does run smooth. But read it (produce it!) to see if All’s Well that Ends Well or is it all Love’s Labour Lost. All you need is love, right?

The old adage of ‘be careful what you wish for” is now twisted into “be careful who you write for,” and “be careful of what you write.” Filled with sci-fi tropes and twisty twists, Lam pokes gleeful holes into writers who are enamored of themselves as creators of brave new worlds.

This play goes off the rails in the most delicious way. Mansfield lays out the minefields of technology and as most of us tiptoe through them, a woman has much more grandiose plans on what to do with this “techno-virtual-accept cookies” world. I saw a production of this. The audience howled at this while clutching their cell phones in fear for their virtual lives.

On a dark and stormy night, Bear gets the stuffing knocked out of him and grows fangs. And now (drumroll) let the thrills begin. Plumridge’s monologues are covered in just enough mystery, history, and a touch of horror that you are left wanting more.

Helicopter parents: beware. Someone may have their eyes on you. Busser led me up the garden path and demolished all of my preconceived notions of where this play was headed. A handy guide to the “new” science fair: enter at your own risk.

I am reading the Bear monologues slowly - one a day to savor each one. Like the fine chocolates I hide from family, Bear goes well with morning tea or evening wine (this one with wine). I may not be able to bear the suspense as Bear’s predicaments are not for toddlers and I am amazed that I am rooting for this fuzzy-stuffy who has unusual powers that frighten me. I am enthralled with this Scare-Bear. You will be, too.