Recommended by Greg Burdick

Billman explores an interesting social shortcoming of the millennial generation: its discomfort with real-time conversation. While everything else is “instant gratification,” texting allows Macy time to reflect and delay before responding (or avoid altogether.) Her grandmother won’t let her miss out on a potentially life-changing job opportunity, and comes to the rescue to help put her at ease during the impending phone interview. Macy returns the favor helping gran become just a bit more tech-savvy. Charming, timely, and it’ll give you warm fuzzies. Two great roles for intergenerational women.

I’m not sure how many times I’ve been inside an IKEA, and have heard someone around me say “I really wish I could live here.” In Brennan’s thoroughly satisfying comedy, Jaycee and her followers end up doing exactly that, at “DUKTIG”... with increasingly hilarious consequences. There is strong commentary here on commercialism, aging, responsibility, and the desire to shirk it sometimes. With three very strong parts for women, this play taps into some significant social issues, but Brennan’s humor gives the piece a light-hearted touch. I give it five out of five Swedish Meatballs!

While Zaffarano’s short is, at first glance, a comic exploration of the pitfalls of gay hookup culture, it delivers so much more. Universal themes of self-doubt, self-esteem, and self-loathing scratch deep beneath its surface. She sketches two distinct, complete, and very human personages in the form of Coke and Denny. Their wild abandon and passionate impulses give us much to smile at, but as the conversation grows more intense, we’re left to think about the dynamics of all relationships, gay and straight/romantic and platonic alike. Her tie-ins with Thoreau are bullseye-perfect. A funny, thoughtful work.

With echoes of Wyndham’s other empowered female pieces, (also see “Valerie, a Cosplay Monologue,” and “Sandy, a Supercenter Employee Monologue,”) Fawzie delivers a powerful punch not easily forgotten. Venting to her fellow chambermaids, this hotel housekeeping employee must wrestle with her disgust for neo-Nazism, her own self-loathing, and perceived shortcomings. Brilliant use of props evoke strong imagery. Fawzie’s trying really hard to scrub all of America’s filth away... but she’s only one woman, and she needs our help. Produce it.

Carnes has created a unique hybrid of three stories, frozen in time, in “Ice Front.” The threads crystallize together so seamlessly, we’re bleakly reminded that, in so many ways, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Yet, comforted, knowing that nothing will stop the lovers... the dreamers... the resistance... in the face of adversity and oppression. Melodic. Sad. Beautiful.

Brimming with high theatricality, Partain’s 10-minute ghost story creates just the right mix of laughter and terror. This piece would be tremendous fun for lighting and sound designers. I’d love to see it staged in an arena space, with each of Vera’s materializations in different sections of the audience. Creepy, innovative, and fun.

When you’re little, and your imagination is firing on all cylinders, jumping on your bed with a towel cape can instantly transform you into a superhero. But when you grow up, and that engine stalls, who will save the day when reality ultimately sets in? A fantastic piece about lost childhood, and the price of rushing toward adulthood.

If you decide to produce this play, don’t be surprised if Carnes insists that your venue be 3,000 miles from where you are... and that you better have a parrot, and oh yes... she will require daily Metro cards... and a dramaturg on standby. Her hero is suffering... but it’s hilarious... from beginning to end. This comedy of errors brings new meaning to the show business tradition of “breaking a leg,” and any New Yorker who works in theatre will surely nod with painful recognition throughout the play’s entirety. One of Carnes’ best!

Clearly inspired by our digital social climate of oversharing, in Guyton’s hilarious short, Maria takes this trend to unprecedented heights as she live tweets the blow-by-blow action... of her wedding night. The play raises serious questions about how far is too far... but it’s so silly and genuinely satisfying, it will assuredly have audiences singing “I Believe I Can Fly” on the way out... it was good for me.

The moment you dare have the inclination to think “this is outrageous, and completely implausible,” it slowly dawns that the premise Bublitz pursues in this play makes perfect sense. And, while men will surely find the circumstances unsettling, that’s precisely the point. It’s so much more than a “flip-the-script-in-power-dynamics-sketch.” Bublitz is working hard to help men understand the powerlessness women feel regarding reproductive rights. And when Laura extorts a smile from Patrick at the end, it’s a swift, hard kick to the goodies... and I’m embarrassed to say that it’s much deserved. Outstanding.