Recommended by Andrew Martineau

Our memories are constructed in our minds, and when certain details are told to us in different ways through other often unreliable lenses, we must painstakingly put it all back together as honestly as possible. In the play Ana says, “I know what it’s like to get so caught up narrating your life that you forget that the people you’re with are actually people.” Karuc doesn’t give easy answers to confronting trauma, but her dramatic structure is effectively used to peel back emotional layers and make all parties people with flaws, ones not always excusable. Brilliant!

I love plays that are completely unpredictable, and this play caught me off-guard because it is bold and daring and incredibly funny. A great comedy can poke fun at its protagonist and make us root for them at the same time. I can imagine that Jim has done his distressed caller some emotional good, so McBurnette-Andronicos wraps it up nicely and finds a killer punchline. Hysterical!

There is nothing I love more than a zany moon landing comedy…oh wait. I had never read one before this. Even more reason to love it— it is so original and funny! I would love to see this live. I felt a little sorry for Joe, I must admit, even though he lied to his fiancée. Was she really just trying to get rid of him? I love the ending, too. Wonderfully absurd!

I love a good vaudevillian short play in the style of Abbott and Costello or even Mr. Bean. TRAMP STORY moves at a quick pace and is very witty. I loved the requests the tramp makes from the menu, and the prayer at the end is hysterical. This play would make a great addition to an evening of absurdist comedy shorts. Nicely done, Raymond!

Fathers and sons often have tenuous, emotionally complicated relationships in our culture, and the poignant sadness of this play lies in how this father and son have always had a strong emotional bond, strengthened by the tragic circumstances of the father having to raise his son alone for most of the boy’s upbringing, and yet the son has been forgotten. This play deals with far more than the sad mental deterioration brought on by dementia. It shows us how the mind can remember toxic relationships and trauma from long ago, and disturbingly forget the good memories. Beautifully written!

As a parent who was always a little bit creeped out inside a Chuck E. Cheese, I was truly mesmerized by the cultish nightmare of Bailey Jordan Garcia’s compelling allegory, shockingly played out in ten minutes. Just the idea of spending a time-out in the ticket blaster is terrifying enough, but the image of Chuck E.’s smiling mouse face shining down while awful sounds are left to the imagination was bone chilling. Amazing play!

Many parents these days face societal expectations involving gender and toys, and even very “woke” parents carefully consider the effects one toy might on their child and on how the child will be treated. Weibezahl examines this issue with a light, humorous touch. Race, class and gender are sensitive topics, but this play touches on each one in a few short, very entertaining minutes of dramatic tension. Well done!

I saw a production of HOODED at the Mosaic Theatre in DC a few years back, and the beauty of it has never left me. The many complex societal themes in this play, along with a dose of modern philosophy, make this a drama for our times. So much has happened since the death of Trayvon Martin, and this play is even more relevant today than it was then. There are many issues here (code switching, intersectionality, as well as the universal issues of adolescent identity), but it is not heavy-handed. There is a lot of humor, as well. Brilliant!

This play is a blast, and it even includes discussion of a blast! Fantastic comedy about hackneyed dramatic writing, with inclusion of Star Wars references because, of course it does. I envy the actors who will play these characters in upcoming one-act festivals! Hilarious!

There is so much to admire in this short film noir style play. From the Rosebud-esque nature of “Adagio” to the carefully plotted sequence of surprising revelations of a grieving widow and her attorney friend, I kept imagining scenes between their spouses in which they reveal their private selves. The beauty of Biven’s play is that we don’t need the flashbacks that might have been played out in a 40s melodrama. All the conflict we need is here to enjoy in this wonderfully crafted drama. Well done!