Recommended by Claudia Haas

A combination of rose-colored glasses and reality join together in a rich play of memory, truth and maybes. O’Grady deftly mixes the toughness of immigrants blending into their new country with the sweetness of their hopes for the future. There is a twist in these remembrances. Are those times missed? Or best forgotten? Happy can have two edges. A poignant slice of life that rings true today.

Can a daffodil make friends with a child? What do they have to offer each other? Is being picked and then “vased” the end for a daffodil? Or is the journey from ground to vase an adventure? Plumridge looks at these questions from a child’s point of view and creates a sweet tale of one child in a nest of daffodils. Young ones will delight in the tale both onstage and in the audience.

This play will make you want to put a trombone in a farm field. How can you figure out something when you don’t know what “something” is? Martin’s fable show’s us how if you limit your expectations, you limit your life. Wanting more is not a crime.

What a beautiful and kind reminder that children live with anxiety - maybe even more so after Covid. The playwright does a beautiful job of a child yearning to play but fearful. I love how help comes to Ada with care and a lot of imagination. Stuffies can be lifesavers.

You want to know the ending and you don’t. Gripping and terrifying. An epic story in one minute.

What a gorgeous story of will, feminism, motherly love, and resilience. Even when women had no power, they found ways. Rose’s story evokes a time that is not as far removed as we think and infuses it with care and bravery. A play suitable for any time of year that celebrates love.

A Christmas story. A sibling story. A train story. A memory. Sickles combines all of my loves and delivers with a play cemented in brotherly love. My heart skipped a beat at the end. So will the audience.

A beauty of a play for students who missed the memo that women have always been involved in science and mathematics. Syran cleverly brings us some of the most influential women of their times and ties it to today’s world. This play is ripe for a teen cast in a high school or university setting. You’ll smile. You’ll laugh. And you’ll google these women. Because you should have known about them in your lessons. Syran rectifies their omission. Read. Produce.

There’s so much love and care in this tale of friendship, new paths, and good-byes. Martin fills the characters with emotion that may be too hard to be said and must be covered with banter and shorthand that bring the feelings to light. The ending is a stunning theatrical moment that will stay with you a long time.

In case you had any doubts, yes - cookies and ice cream (and chips!) can talk to you - quite persuasively. The massage interlude is quite telling as to which foods are needy and which foods exist to please you. Rose has concocted a sweet spread of resolution and indecision. The physical comedy and sly inserts of clever lines (“I’m melting!”) are the added cherries (or sprinkles) on top.