Recommended by Monica Cross

SWORD ART REAL LIFE blends fantasy and reality, anime and subway, harassment and sword-fighting. Bethany Dickens Assaf materializes a moment a lot of women have wished for: Having a sword handy when a man starts harassing you and your friends in public. These are characters who are just trying to exist in the world and finding ways to fight for what they want. This play pulls together a lot of experiences both at conventions and in general and will feel very raw and familiar to a lot of people. Beautifully written dialogue.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

MARCUS AND SEXTUS TAKE A BLOODY WALK AROUND LONDON is a brilliant 10-minute play! Two ghosts discuss two thousand years of changes in London. But this is way more than just a history lesson, as these two have unfinished business. An absolute delight!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

What a fun sci-fi play! Harkening to and drawing on sci-fi classics of prose and film, we get references to and quotes from some of the greatest moments in science fiction. But how much strain can sci-fi put on a relationship? Ken Preuss proves that it can be apocalyptic!

This play is perfect regardless of the audience's familiarity with the science fiction referenced. If you are a huge sci-fi fan (like I am), you'll love this. But I imagine that even the most sci-fi adverse audience members will find the humor is Daisy's fatalistic conclusions about the genre.

Highly Recommended!...

ESCALATOR TO THE GALLOWS is a brilliant moment of Dark Comedy. Valentine's Day breakups can be the worst, but as Fedora explains why it's over, you really get a sense of Erland's point of view, even though he has no lines. This monologue gives us a much larger picture of this relationship than the moment that is dramatized. We get an entire relationship in about 2 minutes. And it is satisfying and funny.

Well done, Scott Sickles!

THE TIME YOU WERE AWAY is a knockout monologue! Covering the darker side of sibling rivalry, Scott Sickles creates stunning moments of sickening realization, all with a bizarre twist of sisterly affection.

I saw Urban Stages production, which beautifully balanced the horror and comedy of this piece.

WELL DONE!

A monologue for two people? Yes! Eddie is having cold feet, Richard is calmly getting ready, and there is just so much that has to be said. FOR RICHARD, FOR POORER is sweet and poignant, and has two stunning roles for actors.

Steven G. Martin's work is full of hope and love, and this play is one of the quintessential examples of that Steven G. Martin style!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

SECRET FAMILY RECIPES is a charming 10-minute play. Emily McClain takes something as grounded in reality as a family cook book and mixes it all up with something as extraordinary as a seance! So many choices can be made in production regarding the efficacy of "Madam Christie" and the rivalry of the two sisters. This play lovingly invites collaboration and interpretation.

Fun and fast-paced, this play is perfect for any 10-minute play festival!

Highly Recommended!

MARCIE AND PATTY ARE GETTING MARRIED is an adorable RomCom full of laughter and love. Hilary Bluestein-Lyons creates a perfect storm of catastophies which threaten to ruin Marcie and Patty's perfect day, but wine and friends and, most importantly, love prevail!

An absolutely delightful play! A wonderful gift to designers with spilled wine and two ruined wedding dresses.

Do yourself the favor of reading this play!

Highly Recommended!

As someone with a very extensive background in Shakespeare, I have a very high bar for Shakespearean adaptations. And to me, SAVE HAMLET! is a perfect Shakespearean adaptation!

This play is ideal for High School students, and both irreverently pokes fun at Shakespeare's play and takes great care to teach actors and audience the history of this play. This play is great for a largely female cast, as we quickly discover that almost all of the men in Elsinore are actually women in disguise!

SAVE HAMLET! works as a great companion piece to it's source material! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

ANOTHER PARK, ANOTHER SUNDAY is a very sweet look at the meaning of life through the eyes of two friends who are dead. Philip Middleton Williams does a beautiful job of celebrating life and presenting the bittersweet melancholy of the life after.