Recommended by Monica Cross

I chuckle to myself as I read this short play over breakfast while looking out my kitchen window at the deer grazing on my lawn. DEER depicts a much less serene relationship with the local wildlife. These gardeners are mad! So mad! And their anger is our amusement. David Hansen gives us extremely human reactions to very a natural turn of events! Do yourself a favor this morning and check out this play!

THAT KIND OF BOY upends expectations and leaves you with a great big grin on your face! Steven G. Martin creates a tense moment of anxiety and then melts it into a tender family moment in this 11-minute play! Adorable! Sweet! Touching!

THE EIGHTH CORPSE is a wonderful riff on the classic living room drama. The matter of fact way that Dante and Shelby discuss the corpse that has appeared in their bedroom would have you think this was just another weeknight in their home, and from the sounds of things, at this point, it may very well be. Ryan M. Bultrowicz has created a delightfully absurd scenario that will have you screaming for more!

There is so much heart in this 10-minute monologue that it is bursting at the seams and overflowing the boundaries of the play. NOT REALLY (LITTLE STAR) is a gorgeously written piece about a man struggling to come to terms with a miscarriage. Toby Malone creates an outpouring of emotion that is raw, and he bears it open for the whole world to see. Immensely Powerful!

SAVORY TANHA is a curated selection of David Hansen's short plays. The addition of a narrator creates context and additional meaning between each piece. Designed for performance in a virtual space, this piece plays with the intimacy of a person speaking directly into a camera in real time. This is a play about the range of human relationships, loss, longing, love, dissatisfaction, disinterest, disappointment, and all the feelings in between. I had the pleasure to see this performed on Zoom with David Hansen narrating, and it was a magical night of theatre. The perfect play to perform while social distancing!

Satan has rebranded in SHE FED THE DEVIL. Marcia Eppich-Harris riffs off the classic temptation arc, when Jessie begins to question her actions. Full of twists and turns and fun imagery of heaven and hell. This ten-minute play is a perfect fit for any short play festival! Do yourself a favor and check it out!

VIGNETTES FOR AN IDOL BEACHFRONT is an irreverent, unsettling, and surprising. Daniel Prillaman has created a piece that screams to be staged! With clown bits, intimacy, and violence, this play is a choreographer's playground. The Quirky characters create unexpected moments in this dark comedy. Check it out!

PROTECTORS has great parts for teenagers, as two brothers struggle to deal with a family secret. Ben Rosenblatt keeps upping the stakes throughout this play. This family drama packs love, family bonds, betrayal, and growing up into 10 minutes of stage time! Check it out!

GLASSHEART is mesmerizing! From the very first moments, I was drawn into this world and laughing out loud at these characters! Reina Hardy creates a lovely modern twist on the "Beauty and the Beast" fairy tale. It is imaginative, charming, and very tender. This play is full of great parts for actors, great opportunities to create for designers, and so many moments of theatre magic at it's finest!

I saw DOUGHNUTS as part of an evening of short plays. It is a sweet look at a could be office romance, and touches on the awkwardness of trying to drop little hints. And when those little hints go unnoticed, what is the cost of persistence? This is a play about health, about food, about co-workers, but this is most importantly a play about the little moments where we realize a connection with another person! David Hansen in a master of the short play format, and he brings it to life here! Well Done!