Recommended by Jessica Chipman

A short three-hander with layers of waiting, as two characters wait to audition for Waiting for Godot. Dzubak's sparse telling gives breathing room for the audience to consider the importance of seemingly-happenstance meetings in our lives. Auditioning for Godot is easily produceable for theatre organizations with ten-minute play evenings/festivals or simply for workshop/ensemble work.

I loved reading this farcical romp. There are some great zingers, some wonderfully horrible Karen-ing, and a fantastic ending, where someone a character hints at the meaning of the play: "No one needs this. No one." Fun opportunities for female actors and all that's needed is a bare stage. This play could work for streaming/digital production as well.

Sabor is rich with meaning about the beautiful complexities of life. This play is about a woman struggling to discover how all facets of who she is fit into how other people in her life view her. It's about families, how we carry the burdens of previous generations--their lives, their toils, their losses, their hopes and dreams and expectations--and how the past inevitably intersects with the present. In the end, it's also about love. Come for the relatability of Clara's messiness, stay for the dancing, be surprised by the magically real beauty. I can't wait to see this in performance!

Wow, what a theatrical punch in a few short pages! Studi deftly chooses not to "show her hand" of this play's reveal until exactly the right moment. Add dreams, symbolism, the binding love of a father-daughter relationship, and a main character searching for how to navigate this future, and Studi's play is sure to have audiences thinking about their beloved family members and the meanings of their dreams.

Obama-ology is the type of play I can't wait to see someday. It's inspiring, funny, and needed in 2020 just as much as it may have been needed in 2008. Squire's tactic of telling the story through the characters orbiting Warren makes this play inherently theatrical.

Red Bike is great for many reasons. The poetry. The nostalgia. The elegiac ambiguity. The breath-catching line, "We forgot what it was we wanted / We forgot that the only thing we were here for / is to learn how to live / and how to die". With memory and familiarity as her tools, and requiring just two actors, Svich telescopes in from a drone's eye view of humanity and its ills and joys to the singular view many will recall of riding your bike down a hill, the wind in your face.

Emily Hageman's Back Cover is a story of surprise, loss, and the overwhelming hope that is present in all stories. Hageman weaves together the lives of two girls in similar circumstances with nuance, and the ending is both rewarding and beautiful. Theatre artists will love the strong roles for women, particularly young women. Worth the read, and for stage companies looking for a short play with a dramatic punch, this one has the potential for benefits for artists and audience alike.