Recommended by Claudia Haas

It’s hard to hold it together when you see the fallout from a shooting. There are wolves at the door and MacLean introduces us to all of them. Closure seems impossible. This is a uniquely American tragedy and nobody is left off the hook. It’s a topic that is hard to explore but for the sake of all of our innocents - exploration, discussion, and action must happen. MacLean has provided you with a start. The ending brought me up short and I was grateful for the last scene. But haunted by the memories of Lucy.

Grief and love go hand-in-hand in this poignant play. It encompasses so many things: moving on while staying put, loss, falling in love again, and how to reconnect when old connections have crumbled. The end takes your breath away. Sparkling dialogue, and characters that you want to hold make this an accessible piece for all audiences.

What a pleasure to find a play geared for actors in their forties and above. Relationships new and old are beautifully bound, and you wish the best for all - even when the cracks appear and widen. There is no “woe is me” in the difficult problem of dementia but a determination to cope and continue to love. Koppen manages to endow her characters with grit while keeping a light touch. The middle-aged sex scene is a welcome delight! Romance is not just for 20-somethings. The ending holds sweetness in the worst of times.

There are so many truths here. Weaver etches out a poignant slice of our times. In these days of social media and online friendships, Weaver gives us Milton - sitting in the kitchen in the middle of the night eating cheese. Because you can do that if you live alone. Milton is grateful for the things he can do - because he lives alone. He throws his gratitude into the universe and miraculously, someone is listening. A fable for our times.

So, even if you’re dead you may want things. So, even if you’re dead ... well ... you have no genitals, you may want things. So, even if you’re dead you may not know the difference between heaven and hell. So, even if you’re dead there may be hope in Mullen’s fast, breezy musings on the afterlife. Good roles for 3 actors.

This is such a sweet gentle play where a lot happens but it happens in the quiet. Crammed into a high school tech booth, Mia and Danny discover what they already knew. But didn’t. A play that’s easy to stage and gives two teen actors a chance to discover a lot about revealing character and listening.

Part silly-clever, part poignant, Schaefers play is a look-back to one of the more infamous art hoists in modern history. As the guards argue about the root cause of being locked up together, there is something else at play. Idle chatter about sex, life, and judgements give an unexpected reveal. A guard can fall in love with a painting. Strong acting roles and a plot out of the ordinary make this a winning contender for a night of shorts.

Tracy Jones throws a party to connect with her tribe - others named Tracy Jones. Lonely, disillusioned with life and desperate to forge connections, she throws caution to the wind and invests heavily - in herself. Kaplan layers the play with such high spirits, you root for all. Can life change in a back room of a Wing Joint? Possibilities are everywhere and Kaplan's characters discover their humanity, their foibles and their next steps amid a backdrop of hot sauces and boneless wings.

The play opens with Alexander Cruden shackled in a madhouse trying to free himself with a butter knife. But is he mad? Minigan asks that question over and over. Bound by absolute faith, as well as strict devotion to a person from his past, Cruden walks a blurry tightrope between insanity and belief. Minigan takes you on a twist-filled journey that keeps you wanting more. And he does it with some full-fledged belly laughs that underscore the precariousness of Cruden's story.

‘Casserole widows” and that’s all you need to know. Let Marj O’Neill-Butler take you on the romantic ride you always wanted to take.