Recommended by Monica Cross

I can't think of a better person to write awkwardly romantic characters than Scott Sickles. These two plays are about people who are absolutely IN LOVE and we can feel it though every awkward metaphor and every improper response. The titles are stunningly breathtaking and the plays are silly and sweet. I would want to be at this couples wedding and I am sure they are well suited because Scott has given us this gloriously awkward glimpse into their lives.

This boxer is tough. He is skilled, he is methodical, and he is a champion. But as an older brother, he is full of caring, love, and nostalgia. These are not contradictions in Franky Gonzalez's play. They are the complex tapestry that make the events that the boxer is about to face one of the hardest nights of his life. And we are invited in to the most private moments before the public showdown in LETTERS TO MY BROTHER.

It is a powerful short play, with an amazing monologue for an actor to dive into.

ACCIDENTIALLY UNLIKE A MONSTER moves the way the songs it is based on feel. Ah-hoo! A hazy hotel room, a chance encounter, and a moment of introspection, Charles Scott Jones offers a glimpse into the messy life our rock star protagonist. This play would be fun to see staged!

Steven G. Martin has written a gorgeous adaptation of THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO! Steve takes Poe's story and heightens its intensity by dramatizing it. From the deathbed confession that leaves us wondering how remorseful Montresor truly is to the foreboding repetition of "Amontillado", it is fast paced and yet we still feel like we are watching a trainwreck happen in slow motion with no way of stopping it as we watch in horror as Fortunato is obliviously lured to his doom.

Highly Recommended!

What a riveting 10 minute play! Middle school can feel like the highest stakes environment we will ever find ourselves in.... but then again Outer Space raises the stakes even more. Yet sometimes it doesn't matter that the fate of humanity hangs in the balance, all that matters is confronting that one person who tormented you. This is fun and somewhat comic in the absurdity of the situation while also getting at a deeply tragic feeling so many can relate to.

BRAVO!

SIGNS OF LIFE is a fantastic one minute play. Scott Sickles gives us a 1-minute meditation on life, and pie of course! There is so much to explore in between mouthfuls of dessert. The implications are haunting but the content is sweet.

Please read this play, and if you are producing one-minute plays, pick this one!

Unfortunately, I must disagree with the protagonist, who wants to escape this monologue by Matthew Weaver. Despite (and because of) the character's desire to be anywhere but in this piece, the monologue is delightful and endlessly entertaining. It is laugh out loud funny, and full of beautifully meta-theatrical moments. The poor protagonist maligns his creator to great comic effect, but you must not believe this poor player as he struts and frets. Because this monologue is FANTASTIC!

Bravo, Matthew Weaver! Thank you for your self-effacing humor and wonderful sense of whimsy!

What a play! A MINUTE PAST MIDNIGHT ON VALENTINES DAY, OR, THE UNTOLD TRUTH ABOUT ROMANTICS is a deeply emotional 1-minute play. It is immediately, full of conflict, characters who have big wants, and a really lovely moment at the end.

Bravo, Steve!

Delightful! BOOP! is a wonderful 1-minute play! So fun to imagine staging! Check it out!

THE RAVEN / LENORE explore a possible rationale behind Edgar Allan Poe's poem The Raven. This inventive twist of the original gives a voice to the Lost Lenore and creates interesting conflict. Hillary DePiano blends the language of Poe's Poem with her own beautiful prose. What a fun play for stage or zoom!

I saw a virtual production by The Rude Mechanicals in 2021, which did a great job of creating the physical space of the study and the spirit plane Lenore now occupies.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND!