Recommended by Claudia Haas

You’re never too old for Pickle-Ball ... or other delightful activities. Carnes offers us a champagne-sparkle of a comedy for “people of a certain age” without a whiff of elder-stereotypying. If it takes a clothing-optional wedding to give older actors dream roles, let’s have more of that: more love, more spice, more pickle-ball. You can find it all in the play.

I love romantic comedies with twists and turns and some shadows. This has it all in spades. Mavromatis takes us on a sweet journey into the romantic unknown. Where it will stop - nobody knows - but you will have a lovely trip. The perfect play for heart-day. Especially when heart-day is every day. Throw some light into your life and read it/produce it.

A heartbreak of a play. There is so much truth here in a scant ten minutes, so many exposed nerves that may never heal. The monologue regarding what triggers “the monster” gives insight into how those with PTSD face the day. Deeply theatrical, Partain’s monster will stay with you. And for reasons you may not expect.

Masks come off, summer strips away baggage, and the coolness of the lake brings what’s truly there. Cooler Near the Lake exposes secrets, brings on heightened dreams, and opens up some realities that are exposed in times of grief and remembrance. Funny, honest, and loving, the play centers on the humanity of the characters, and what happens when their choices are not true to themselves. Williams writes a tale that is filled with love even when the love is misguided. And allows that forgiveness and compassion are integral parts of love.

The Spot is a lovely fable about growing older and staying connected to the natural world. Karp shows us how parks can provide so much comfort and needed release in concrete cities. If you've ever fallen in love with your backyard tree or waited for the different spring blooms year after year, this play will speak to you.

This is one clever little ditty. Gift wrapped in a tale of magical dolphins replacing flying reindeer, Gabridge gives us so much more. This is a romantic comedy of forbidden love complete with a bow. But the romance is secondary. What matters is the tale of acceptance coupled with a fantastical consequence of climate change. A short play with long-reaching themes.

A jewel of a play that focuses on grief but never gets tied up in the maudlin. It has all the building blocks of life in just a few moments: love, life, loss, family, and rays of hope. Yes, it’s centered around the holidays when grief is magnified, but would be a poignant play in any program. There are so many truths.

Research just gives you so much. What if you don’t want information even if it is printed on your DNA? The play is personal, historical, and even frightening in the discoveries. Secrets can be scary. How do you find lost people and reconcile them into your life? There are no easy answers but much to think about.

“Your charms are timeless” and so the charms of Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh are in this love note to them. I devoured this as I devoured their films as a teen. In this imagining, Olivier is sick and Leigh is dying. Time does not take away from their wit or their poignant memories of their fractured life together. It’s a love story for the ages and a valentine to theatre.

A play that leaves you wondering... and hoping... and you just don’t know. Who is the older gent? Is he merely commenting? Or is he protecting? Carnes takes us on an every day journey where today is different. Ordinary conversation is heightened. Ordinary activities have new meanings. Maybe there is nothing ordinary in the ordinary. And maybe there is beauty in that.