Recommended by Claudia Haas

Just achingly beautiful and heart-stopping. Burbano shows us that one victim murdered by a gun includes many victims. Because of a shooting, a young woman is robbed of her future self. In a scant ten-minutes, we witness a romance, an engagement and an aftermath. I will never look at stars in the sky the same again.

Whoa! An absolute thriller of a monologue. You will be riveted from start to finish. It’s a powerhouse of a monologue. I love how Cooper manages to interject humor while you are left biting your nails praying that Rachel doesn’t get eaten by a bear.

How often do you relate to three diverse characters? (If you do, you probably have spent time in a cubicle.) All three have a deep want/need and as a carrot is dangled in front of them, they must re-examine what they’re wishing for. A great short satire on our workaday world.

I’m not sure there were any adults in the room but I did love the lengths the characters go to convince themselves. Bublitz’s dialogue crackles with honesty and self-consciousness that endears you to them. Julie digs herself a quagmire from which she (maybe) wants to escape. Or not. I love how Bublitz takes an ordinary situation and makes it extraordinary.

Hageman clearly knows that cheese-lovers are the best catch. What a fun twist on fairy tale characters. There is a lilting feminist arc where the heroines of our most beloved childhood tales realize they’ve been had by a cad. You have to love a tale where the cheese-lover is the fountain of wisdom. This is perfect for teens who are figuring out their “social adjustment.” Without being messagey, the play tells you - you are wonderful, even if you don’t fit the mold.

You can grow up, be responsible and all adult-like, but the minute you’re in a tent in the middle of the night - every ghost story you ever heard comes back to haunt you. A very funny, quirky play with three equally funny, quirky characters. A delight for the actresses and audiences. Make sure you read the closing stage directions. You may just sleep with the lights on tonight.

I read this one year after finishing my play about Sophie Scholl. I am invested in her. Meyers does a lovely job of finding the conflicted Sophie who finally decided on her own ethics and morals. The scene between Hans and Sophie is gripping. Their love, respect and fear is center stage. They are an important part of WWII history which Meyers brings front and center,

I will admit to an obsession about Mary Anning and this play fulfills it in the best possible way. It's theatricality wowed me. The visuals at the end are breathtaking. The colorful characters, Mary's mission in life and wonderful Tray made this a page-turner. August fully captures the raging war between science and religion and the woman-scientist who fought for acceptance in a world determined to leave her buried at the bottom of the Lyme Regis cliffs. This will be amazing on stage.

Rosenblatt covers a lot of ground in this very human, nuanced play about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. OCD takes many forms and there are varying examples throughout the play. There are poignant moments where the characters explain how they have needed to hurt someone so that they wouldn't hurt that person. Then there are the various way that people dismiss them, "Don't do that. Germs are good for you." Told with self-awareness and humor, audiences will find something to relate to in this play. Everyone has a hiccup in the brain at sometime in their life.

This is just a beautifully realized play of life, death, purpose and our place in the universe with a cast of two twinkling stars. The play covers a lot of ground in ten-minutes and is written with such care and appreciation of our universe. Everyone belongs. Even a midsize star. Every life is important - even midsized ones.