Recommended by Rachael Carnes

Gah! I love these two characters *so much*!! Holbrook's dialogue bobs and weaves in and out of such touching, tender places with ease, taking us on a wash-dry-fold journey that feels real-not real in the perfect way that eavesdropping in a crowd can reveal philosopher kings. A charming revelation.

I want to watch all of JJ's YouTube videos from now until the end of time. This monologue is a gem — Hitting all the 'what makes a monologue' marks and then bringing us to exquisite company with this delightful human who is here to help us get it all sorted. JJ for President! JJ for *everything*. A beautiful journey that we get to sidekick, like Abu. Or Raja. Anyway, read it, smile, feel better about life and the universe, and understand the reference. Superb work!

This is a tight little snare drum of a play! Seymour crafts a cagey world with deft dialogue and these characters that could be mopey Jazz-age layabouts, or #influencers — The writer digs into their ennui and finds a rivulet of humor. Delicious rhythms here. So theatrical and whimsical and dark. Reminiscent of a Chas Addams cartoon or an Edward Gorey lithographic, spare, perfect, kinda horrifying. Love this play.

A remarkably crafted monologue about the internal/external experience of "intimacy" and it's relationship to language and the lived experience. This says so much about the subtleties and intricacies of misogyny, body-shaming and what it means to live in a world where mere pleasure may exist for the other's consumption. Ugh! So relevant and so heartbreaking. This should be required reading at the beginning of educational conversations in High Schools and colleges about sex positivity and consent. Brilliant work.

This utterly charming play would be a delight onstage. Kaplan creates warm, instant rapport among the characters, with Tim in right field — Wishing someone would *see* him for the non-sportsy person he is. There's such lovely humor throughout, and a river of tempered, relatable emotion flowing underneath each perfect beat. This would be a dream to explore for any creative team: Bright, funny, with opportunities for dynamic physicality and deeply-felt heart. What more can you ask for?

A huge deep breath after reading this monologue. Goldman-Sherman's elegant, seemingly effortless exploration of the distant past as it enfolds into the present expresses exquisitely the searing discomfort of long-buried pain rising to meet current trauma. From an actorly point-of-view, this beautiful work offers guy ropes up a steep mountain face, footholds that would take the performer away from basecamp, into the realm where oxygen is low, and back again. Stunning craft. Deeply-felt ideas.

Raw and real, Donnelly's words here slide along a knife's edge — Tapping a rivulet of pain and tender mercies. An actor embodied in this role would have every arrow at the ready - it's sharp, visceral, smart. Achingly sad, when we widen the lens and allow ourselves the scope of the horror depicted. Bravo.

A beautiful slice of life for any theatre person. Feeny-Williams creates a gentle wonder at the traces of performances, exploring how their ephemera can be imbued in the fibers of costumes, the sturdy handcraft of properties. This little play reminds me how much I love to nose around in any theatre's storage areas! These relics sing and dance pure memory.

Oh Edie! How can I feel so connected to a character so immediately?! Wyndham paints the environment and moment with such clarity and strength of vision, and then does something even more remarkable, let's us into the internal pulse of this remarkable, whip smart, wise-cracking person. Want a monologue that will show off your acting chops? Want to read something funny and humane? Look no further.

This back to the future romp is a delight. If you were there, Richter’s depiction of 1980’s radio, particularly the rat-tat-tat of the slick DJ patter — the likes of which offered a cultural lifeline for pre-internet, pre cable America — is a warm hug. For anyone newer to this planet, the play will illuminate just another of the reasons why a million angels should go forth to part the airspace in front of Saint Dolly.