Recommended by Monica Cross

THE EARLY FLIGHT challenges tropes by asking what really happens when a businessman takes the early flight home? What should he want to happen? What do we want to happen. What will his wife do! Evan envies the adventures his friend Dave has been able to go on since Dave discovered his wife's affair. This upending of expectations is an absolute delight. Feriend also gives you two options (3 person cast or 4 person cast) which each brings this play to its own hilarious conclusion. This play is FUN!

RECOMMENDED!

What a play! What a year! Even if you have no interest in "pandemic plays" check out THIS YEAR. Set in L.A. during the wildfires and pandemic, Greg Lam shows us how truly bizarre our lives have become and how we have all adjusted to going about our daily lives while the world falls apart around us. The dry humor of this play captures 2020 perfectly. It includes stellar lines such as "if I survive this but my car gets trashed I’ll be pissed."

This play would work on Zoom, on stage, or as a radio play. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

What a powerful 10-minute play. THE BOARD may be a play about chess, but its also a life lesson, for the for young character and also for the audience. The fierce urgency of the older men explaining chess leaves a lasting impression. Eric Mansfield asks if we would be willing to sacrifice a pawn, if we knew it had a wife, a family, a life that would be lost. This play is beautiful, raw, poetic, and insightful. It is a STRONG addition to any 10-minute play festival, and I think it would work very well on Zoom as well. BRAVO!

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!