Recommended by Claudia Haas

Oh this is a fun, maybe scary, could be scary, well yeah, is scary, possibly very scary play. Can you scare yourself? Yes. What is emotion and what is truth? Is scariness in the eye of the beholder? Guess and guess again. Hamilton-Schmidt leads you up a garden path and where you stop is up to you. Theatrical with a lot weighing on imagination.

Hamlet meets film noir and Shakespeare is jumping up and down saying, “Yes! This is what I was trying to write but there was no Los Angeles yet.” Minigan is scarily clever with the Bard and if you’re not a Hamlet scholar, you will still have too much fun trying to make sense of this murder mystery where the ending cannot be more unpredictable. Whether you like your murder “neat,” or “on the rocks,” you will find this goes down smoothly with a sweet, small burn. Enjoy! And hope it comes to a theatre near you.

Something Blue offers a poignant reconciliation between father and daughter - moments before the daughter is to be married. Reyes creates a rich meeting of an estranged father and daughter with no villains and no cliches. Instead she gives us a broken past, honest dialogue and hope for the future. With nuanced characters, Reyes offers actors and audiences a piece of theatre that explores the human heart.

It’s Frankenstein. No. It’s Beauty and the Beast or rather Beauty and the Even More Beautiful. DePiano turns fairy takes upside down and brings us a fable of silly, of beauty, and of female power. With wit, farcical sight gags, the fun never stops as Arm Candy piles on nonsense with sense and fairy-tale “tests” with unpredictable answers. In these days of Instagram and the perfect-life scenario, DePiano skewers all. She even manages to have the dim-witted, arm-candy man grow. Fun for all with a lot of (sweet) food for thought.

Bavoso turns Prometheus Unbound into a tale of friendship and anti-heroes. And it all makes sense. Who doesn’t love routine even if it means getting your liver eaten daily? I am hoping Bavoso rewrites all of Greek mythology. If it is in the vein of Prometheus Shrugs, future students of Greek mythology will thank him.

The visual of ironing your wedding dress every day for 3 years is hard to shake off. Case gives us love in the time of war/politics/instability. There Is a Romeo & Juliet quality to this play that hints at tragedy. Something Blue rips open the lives lived in terror, the lives on hold in Gaza. We see innocent humans caught in a trap made by governments. It’s a play that will resonate with audiences.

A rom com between humans, between dogs, between humans and dogs - so much bark and tail wagging, I smiled and laughed and fell in love. In love with the humans and those irrepressible dogs. Please stage this nearby so I can bring dog biscuits and have the time of my life.

Asked but not answered. Memory is tricky. What will we look back on that brings happiness? What the hell is happiness anyway? Houg blends nostalgia with memory and (wisely) avoids the happiness question. A fascinating two-hander that will leave the artists and audience lost in thought,

Love in the time of coronavirus. Succinct, wistfull, and true. Viral Love offers a glimpse into the future - and manages to keep it sweet.

A comedy about (maybe) manly men and (maybe) survival and (maybe) friendship. It’s part manly fairy tale and the opposite of Deliverance. Drumbeats gives us a moose, the wilderness, and trickery and serves it up with civilized takeout. McCleland’s characters buy into the LL Bean catalogue’s definition of men with a touch of Walmart. Men trying to behave civilly.