Recommended by Claudia Haas

Martin and Cathro are delighting our young audiences with all creatures great and small. They will have children leaving the theatre saying, “pretty purple pickles please” and giggling through it all. The visuals are vibrant and fun and the tale is within the scope and grasp of pre-schoolers through second grade.

Variety is the spice of Christmas. Hoke gives us an assortment of Santas, merry cheer, and an unexpected twist perfect for the season. It’s a fine way to end 2022.

I “hear” there is a drinking game associated with Christmas tv movies. Every time a stereotypical Christmas moment happens, you take a shot. That would be a dangerous game to play with Vinero’s Christmas-latte-confection. You would be inebriated five minutes into the play. Vinero hits all the Hallmark-trope-frosting-covered-elf moments with sprinkles on top. If the sugars of the season are leaving you jumpy, the antidote is right here. Read it! Better yet, produce it.

A play that seems to go down the caregiver road - and doesn’t. A play that may explore dementia and does and doesn’t. A play about the human condition that ties a knot in your expectations. Loss, future, AI meet and do a new dance. A great take on an old theme.

The mother-daughter relationship is laid bare by Goldman-Sherman. It’s about everything except what they talk about. It’s about nothing except what they talk about. Is anything more personal than food and hugs? Insightful, true, and sweet.

I am rooting for these two so much. It may not look good but if you meet at a baby shower and carry immense amounts of heartbreak water on your back, it needs to count for something. A unique take on relationships, showers, and how to find a parked car. I hope it’s at a theatre near me soon.

A true rom-com - gentle, poignant, and funny. Sickles avoids the stereotypes usually assigned to senior characters. Bonus: you may view American History in a whole, new light. In a world that can use some extra love, Sickles delivers it.

Sugar is a tightly-woven, suspenseful take on a subject that cannot get enough exposure. It will take your breath away. It needs to be produced everywhere.

Sullivan’s play has given a heightened definition to the term “warrior princess.” Love is in these pages. And respect. Something we need more of. How wonderful to find it here.

The play tackles life’s biggest occasions (love, grief, loss, family). In Mabey’s skilled hands, we are gifted with a personal story that is everyone’s. We know these characters, we root for their journeys. We forgive foibles. We hope for the best. There is more than a complicated hope at play here. There is complicated love, a complicated family, and a sense of gratitude that with all the complications, we are the better for them.