Recommended by Daniel Prillaman

A grand meditation on doubts and regret, whether it's truly possible to change, and so much more, "Orta" is a feast. It's a discovery. It's a feascovery!!

St. Julius is genuinely one of the most delightful and distinct characters I've ever encountered, and he grounds an ensemble that continuously dazzles and amazes. Snakes and serpents are often used in tales as allegory or metaphor, but never quite in this way. It's a piece I will be unable to stop thinking about. Though I leave it for now, I surely will be back. Highly recommend.

We know that cosmic horror is about the glimpses. The sudden knowledge of far too much or a visage of gods so vast that it breaks our brains. But it's so rare to encounter a play that feels like madness. From the first syllable, Horowitz's play feels insane. Not rad, not crazy, but fully immersed in something broken, and the more of it that we parse, the more we succumb to the fate of its characters. A fantastic short for two actors, no special effects budget needed. Check this out now.

Whether Simon Says or nay (...), we should all applaud Moughon's terrifying short. This is a tour-de-force for three actors, and it descends into absolute horror with perfect pacing. Even the stage directions pull atmosphere work here, and I would be hard-pressed to imagine anyone not leaving a theatre chilled. Magnificent. Many claim horror doesn't work on stage. It's too much. Too expensive. Too hard.

We have a new example to point to that proves otherwise.

The best short plays often end leaving us recontextualizing everything that came before it. It is (pardon the pun) a delicious thing, and Smith's "Tasty" supplies in spades. I shant spoil why Smith doesn't eat and Jones eats everything, but will offer that the pay-off is pitch perfect. Delectable.

I mean...we have ghost lights for a reason, right? Medlin's short horror is deliciously effective, pitting two friends against a spirit that...well, wants to do some acting? I'll say nothing more, suffice that this would be a hit at any horror festival. If you're looking for some spooky in your afternoon, you won't do better than this. Delightful.

First of all, what a magnificent title. This is a title everyone sees and wishes they had thought of it. It's absolutely brilliant, and if you disagree, thou art a liar. Moving forward, Bultrowicz puts voice to a compelling thought. "How telling is it that in the human imagination, the natural escalation of AI sentience comprehending human atrocity is the atrocity of our own genocide?" Thankfully, ADA is not human, and listening to her thoughts, hopes, and dreams is one of the most powerful monologues you will ever encounter. Everyone should read this. Then do it. Stellar.

Corona's dystopian torture tank is not only an absurdist masterclass, but a modern classic. Beckettian isolation and wordplay (the language! God, what magnificent language!) abounds throughout, resulting in a darkly surreal playground to both watch and participate in. It is a challenging piece, but daring and inviting, and one I look forward to digesting again and again. This is a script sorely in need of production. Enter.

Huh...who would have thunk? The Pearly Gates are a little...different than we purported. I guess everyone's a little bit correct. If Plumridge's Heaven is in anyway accurate to the real thing, perhaps death will be something to look forward to! If we can pal around the way Marston and "Steph" quickly manage in this guffaw-inducing play, I don't see much issue aside from the being dead part. Definitely check out this short. It is guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

Funny, musing, and with a perfect pinch of irreverence, DeFrates' self-described "poetic mess" is anything but. A mess that is. Love is a mess, of course, but this exploration of it is not. It's a delight, with a pulsating sense of openness and energy that you could stage in endless ways. Actors and designers alike have a playground to work with here, and it would be so much fun to see this onstage.

I grew up attending a Baptist church, but did not learn how many denominations of Christianity there were (including my own) until high school. My first reaction was anger, because I saw it as fighting over wording, instead of the spirit of the bigger picture. It's what we're doing now, and the bigger picture is that no matter our beliefs of how things are or should be, we're running on less and less and less time on this planet. Feriend's play is pitch-perfect, timely, hopeful, and grim, comforting the eco-grief, and confronting our inaction (or denial) at the same time.