Recommended by Monica Cross

You can tell a lot about a person from their Taco Bell order. Colette Murphy creates two characters who define themselves and their life choices by what they order, and we see it play out in real time as they reveal more to each other than what they like to eat. TWO BEAN BURRITOS & AWKWARD SILENCES perfectly hits the millennial angst on the nose and leaves us to consider what Baja Blast could mean in our own lives.

Thank you, Colette! I toast my Dr. Pepper to you!

I had the opportunity to watch the digital recording of the World Premiere of ARTEMISIA made available by the Forward Theatre. I was familiar with Artemisia's Judith and the details of her life that are often associated with the painting. Lauren Gunderson's play opens up the life of Artemisia Gentileschi and reminds us that she is a complicated individual and so much more than the reductive narrative we hear about her. I was struck by how much I identified with Artemisia's struggles as a woman and an artist and trying to maintain authenticity in both of those aspects of self.

DO NOT MISS OUT ON THIS PLAY!

Emily McClain creates a dark comedy that is as charming as it bleak. I adore this fish family and their ill-fated owner. And everything from the scuba diver figuring to the floating fish make me smile. I want to produce this play! I want to stand in for the scuba diver figurine! I want to make costumes for each of the fish! This play excites me with all of its staging possibilities!

Read this play! Recommend this play! Produce this play!

FORGIVE US OUR DEBTS highlights the worst (debt collection) and best (debt forgiveness) of humanity. Philip Middleton Williams brings together two men from very different walks of life, and they bond over beautiful similarities. This is a charming play that would be a great fit for any 10-min play festival.

10:42-10:49 sucked me in from the beginning and plunged me right back into the feeling of growing in a small town in the 90s and the toxic and abusive situations that often pervaded that environment. Bethany Dickens Assaf creates characters that are relatable and uniquely complicated. Audiences will be rooting for these characters, and on the edge of their seat wanting to see how it turns out.

This play needs to be staged!

Steven G. Martin is a master of packing big emotions into little packages, and 8-year-old Teddy's fear of death is a great example. This play packs a punch and says so much with just a few words. What is left unsaid speaks volumes. BRAVO, Steve!

Hal's transition to King Henry V is rife with tragic moments (I always think of "I know thee not, old man."). Jillian Blevins hits us with one more in THE PRINCE'S SHADOW. This goodbye moment between Hal and Poins has gorgeous language, and leaves us with such longing! It works beautifully as a stand alone play and is absolutely devastating in larger Shakespearean context.

WHY THE BANSHEE WAILS is a snapshot in time, seen from several points of view. Adam Richter creates a compelling moment and then turns it over and over, and it is exactly those shifts in perspective that draw us in. This play has history, mythology, psychology, and practicality all wrapped up in one.

Definitely check out this eerie play and find out WHY THE BANSHEE WAILS!

Amongst all of the anxiety about AI generated text, Adam Richter explores the possibilities of where this technology might go. The characters in MACHINE LEARNING have a delightful and insightful conversation about the future of AI written text. And honestly, I think it's a pretty accurate prediction that Adam Richter gives these characters. This is a very timely 10-minute play, and I am interested in seeing how prophetic it turns out to be.

Move over Animal Farm, Emily McClain is serving THE JUDAS GOAT. Based on an actual slaughter house practice, this play is chilling while still being disturbingly funny. I would love to see this play staged. If it could be in an outdoor performance space, all the better!

Looking for a dark comedy for your 10-minute play festival? Put this at the top of your list!