Recommended by Claudia Haas

The play kept me as off-balance as Lucy is during most of it. Was there consent? You don't know until the very end and then it rips you. Moving back and forth in time, we are in Lucy's journey as she struggles to remember what she doesn't remember. I'd love to see this play in high schools as young people grapple with, "What is consent?" "What is date rape?" At the very least, if this play was featured on college campuses across the country, there could be very meaningful discussion which could help the tide of this rising crime.

A wonderfully engaging play that is about bullying but without the messenger delivering the "bully" message. Instead, it's young monsters figuring out their own place, dealing with their insecurities while trying to stay under the radar of ridicule. The humor draws you in and will engage young people. The honesty keeps you invested and the humanity (monsteranity?) of these characters win you over. A delightful ensemble youth play.

A mother-daughter conversation that had to happen but doesn't go where you think it will. It's a play for our times and a commentary not only on Trump's America, but on why there is a #MeToo movement. Poignant and sharp.

And there aren’t enough therapy dogs to comfort what is happening in America. In one minute we move from “aww, cute” to “funny” to a “breathless sorrow.”

Where we are and where we are going... the most frightening thing is the reality of this monologue. A snapshot that could become reality in five minutes or tomorrow or in a year and it could happen over and over again. It should be included in every festival about gun control, black lives matter and school violence. Justification for killing a student: a terrifying “new normal.”

This is not Alice in Wonderland. It is a wild ride of an adventure story that borrows liberally from the book but takes it in new directions. The play takes place before, during and after Alice's infamous trip to Wonderland. New plot points, twists, travel through time, travel via looking glass and the nonsense that is Wonderland are smartly rearranged to bring us a new story with a lot more intrigue than the original. Packed with action, this play is ideal for young audiences and families of all ages.

Rescue. Sometimes it's serendipity and sometimes it's karma (the good kind).On the first page, the play looks like it could be a drunk-woman-meets-man-rescuing-her-in-a bar-comedy. And then it unveils itself to a reveal a delicate and intricate portrait of two people whose lives have intersected before in a way that affected one of them deeply. In just ten minutes, you see these people how they were as children, their life choices, and their lives today. And you wish them well. Because you know them and like them. The ending with the "new dog" is perfect. Read it. Stage it.

I just love this play. I love that Steve believes in this voodoo stick from New Orleans. I love that he wishes someone who loved him would love him and that he'd be great at his job. And I so love that he thinks these wishes came true because of a stick. The play is a smile; romance runs through it's veins with a tablespoon of silliness. The play is perfect for any short play festival but especially good for a festival celebrating love.

It's hard to adapt a turn-of-the-last-century children's book in a way that is accessible to today's youth. Ashby does a splendid job of streamlining the book and focusing on the adventure. The play moves seamlessly and effortlessly from scene to scene helping to engage a young audience. The characters have heart, humor and sparkle. (I particularly loved the "mining" scene.) Young audiences will relate to the siblings plight of sudden poverty and the mysterious disappearance of their father. And they will root for all of them.

A little boy sets up his dinosaurs on a table, dreams of living with the dinosaurs and then breaks you. This monologue is hugely theatrical and the effects of bullying are done without ramming a message down your throat. Instead, Wyndham shows you the aftermath. It's highly effective and should go to drama teachers everywhere. One of the things theatre-for-youth does is foster empathy. This monologue does exactly that.