Recommended by Andrew Martineau

I was immediately swept up in the New York vaudeville scene of the 1920s with Zareh Artinian's incredibly engaging look at an Italian painter seeking to paint scenery and to get to know the boss's daughter a little better. The dialogue feels so authentic, and the characters are so well-drawn. The story feels bigger than this short play provides, and my hope is that "The Big Brush" expands and Artinian uses an even bigger "pen" to make it a full-length play. It's a fantastic piece of dramatic writing.

Ricardo Soltero-Brown has gifted us with a collection of interior monologues that reflect on such things as the maddening feelings that arise from noise of incoherent conversations, disturbing the peace noise, slowing down and being in the moment bliss, and a really great “lift you up” moment from a person who has traveled the world and truly loves life. I thoroughly enjoyed these monologues and can just imagine how much actors would love performing them.

I love a good story that is so unique that you can’t predict where it’s headed. Jack Levine crafts a chance meeting between neighbors (who don’t know they’re neighbors), and we watch as an attraction develops. I love the absurd notion of a bubble device to gauge buoyancy, and I am a sucker for oddballs making a connection. Wonderful!

Dan Taube’s delightfully humorous take on the Boris Karloff version of The Creature raises some fascinating questions about identity, trauma and PTSD, all in a ten-minute comedy! I am hoping for a marriage counseling sequel with Elsa making an appearance with her streaked hair and over-the-top reactions to everything. The duck nightmare and the therapist’s response to it is awesome. Hilarious!

What is it about wet clothes and dry wine that offer the perfect concoction for romance? Do these tired stories really satisfy us, or are we just conditioned to enjoy them? Rachel Feeny-Williams offers a quick and amusing analysis of romance novel cliches and tropes, while having her characters live within their own cliches and embrace them fully. A fun, well-executed concept!

So, I actually was just reading about a senior prank where students listed a school for sale online. Deb Cole is prophetic! I really enjoyed this play, and I can imagine this going well over well with high school kids ready to celebrate before graduation. Now, let’s just hope that the laxatives in the bird feeders doesn’t show up in the news. Don’t try this in real life, kids!

This is a fascinating concept: pandas placed together to mate and the conversation they reluctantly engage in. As someone who lives near the National Zoo in DC, I always thought about how they felt about it, especially with tourists staring at them and encouraging them to reproduce. Rebecca Dietsch has created a funny and smart play that covers environmental issues and their species’ contributions to the planet. Well done!

“Today’s America’” has a title with a provocative double meaning. This short play is both relevant for our times and involves a protagonist who feels that extreme measures might be just what we need right now. The opening and closing monologues are well written and sandwich a disturbingly realistic scene between two political leaders with very different agendas. This would be a great ten-minute play for a festival on gun violence, and it would be certain to spark a great post-show discussion.

Oh, the trials and tribulations of getting a table long enough for thirteen picky eaters all on one side! I love that Jesus doesn’t want to do any name dropping to have an “in” here. The biblical and Renaissance cross-referencing is so clever. Very funny stuff, Mr. Plumridge!

Emotion hurt and wisdom don’t always cross paths, but Brenton Kniess is able to eloquently convey wisdom and maturity in this heartfelt monologue about a breakup. The bench represents positivity in the face of pain. Wonderful!