Recommended by Daniel Prillaman

Whatever life is...a video game, an experiment, a dream, a brief flash of insanity, at least we're in the hands of cats. I am kinda glad for that. Cats are loving (yes, they are, they can just choose to not love you), appropriately mischievous, full of impulsive antics. Hell, could be much worse. Come for the kittehs, stay for the Norse mythology, rejoice for all shall probably be well maybe. A lovely and most humorous short play.

Is it too gauche to say that "The Unexpected Delight of Snow Birds" is an...well...?

Feriend's short holiday romp is one about a beautifully and naturally realized couple in an argument (the insults!), but also so much more. It is a tender and genuine examination of tradition, how we create new ones, and grief. And birds. Apparently there are people who hate birds. Thoughtful, funny, and with the perfect amount of whimsy, you can't ask for anything more. Except maybe a raccoon.

The gravity of the eternal war between cat-kind and Christmas tree is sometimes lost. Thankfully, Richter has written us a dutiful reminder of not only this, but the true meaning of the season (and how hard it can be to keep it up). So much fun potential here for designers and actors, as the visuals are hysterical just on the page. The pacing here is just beautiful, from the entrance of the doctor, to the couple, to the most delicious ending.

Gleefully deranged, surprisingly wholesome, snacks! These words barely scratch the scaly, demonic surface of Martin's play. What starts as your typical glimpse into the lives of an average American family is quickly upended in devilish wordplay and situational humor. And then it escalates. And then it escalates again. And then it escalates again. It doesn't stop. What is happening? So much blood. That's a demon. Now there's a spokesperson. Are we in hell? Or is America hell? Are there any more snacks? Where IS Fishkill? This is pure madness! Madness, I say!!

Absolutely bonkers. Audiences will love this.

"A knife!" "NO!!" <-- not a quote from this play, but a Vine.

Move over Doctor Frank, Fetter has some skills up their colorful sleeves. The most delightful thing about this surprisingly sex-positive Christmas Shellian riff is where it goes. And doesn't go. The main subject is talked around to glorious effect, and just absolutely hilarious. Surely a hit for any holiday themed festival.

A fun (and enlightening) jaunt through the soul-sucking rage monotony of corporate fast-food, the adrenaline pumping highs of con-artist shenanigans, and actually really painful burns, you should go to the hospital. Jo and Char are hilarious foils, but are anchored through a genuine relationship, which makes the places we wind up all the more meaningful. A lovely commentary on not only empathy, but giving everyone (including ourselves) more grace for struggling to exist in a capitalist hellscape. Strangely, I am also now thinking Arby's...

I cannot thank or praise Scott Sickles enough. In my personal staunch defenses of the Oxford comma, I no longer need to articulate my (correct) arguments. I can now point to this masterpiece. Not only is it British humor at its finest, it is the goddamn funniest fucking play. I so want to speak on it more, but I cannot do so without spoiling the perfection of its pacing, the glorious absurdity of its build, the ridiculousness of its characters. Just read it. Then do it. This will bring down any house (wink), no matter the festival or theatre.

One of the hardest things about making dialogue natural is feeding necessary information to the audience without the characters having to say things that they would already know, and therefore have no need to explain. Cathro always nails it, but this melancholic and heartfelt play is a masterclass. So much is said, unsaid, and entire histories are revealed through simple, impeccably developed conversation, leading to an ending that brings everything home. A tremendous, in his own words, "unconventional Christmas play," and a reminder that it's Christmas for everyone. Even those with less stable shelter.

If you don't crack a smile while reading this play, it'll take more than spirits to save you. This short delight is at once an homage to artistic powerhouses of ages past, as well as a subtle and pitch-perfect musing on art's very creation. Sometimes drugs help? Shouldn't say that, probably. I don't know. Everything in moderation. Otherwise you wind up with really interesting combinations invading your dreams. The actors and costumers here will have loads of merriment, which means an audience will too.

An old, racist white guy once said that the greatest fear is the fear of the unknown. Ignoring the ironic and inherent xenophobia in that, Eli otherwise faces a similar struggle. Not a cosmic horror so vast and unknowable, but the microscopic germs and invisible, but nevertheless PRESENT, stains on the hotel bed. But there's also something underneath the "sheets" here, the fear, excitement, horniness, and undeniably human experience of being vulnerable for the first time with a potential partner. It's a complex, layered moment, and is depicted so tenderly and deftly.