Recommended by Rachael Carnes

Awwwwww wonderful! When I read a play by Lawing, I'm always impressed with the depth of his characters and the weird/cool/unusual circumstances he puts them in. They're creative, engaging, and always - this play's a great example - so accessible. I love the build of this ten-minute play, and its twist, is just so satisfying. What a delight!

Simply adorable! Funny and fresh and *perfect* for festivals or scene study. Trevor! Trevor the Vampire needs a full-length, stat. Bravo!

A fascinating vision that feels eerily prescient: What if we came to burning books, how would that feel, to the ones tasked with their destruction? Osmundsen asks hard questions, within a comedic lightness - that's the genius and the heartbreak of this play - that the moment of loss is lived by these genuinely warm, funny people. A compelling, terrifying world, beautifully constructed and carried to conclusion.

With her penchant for combining the rawest, most tender of feeling, with delicate, understated poetry, Hageman takes the form -- a one-minute play -- and makes it all her own. A beautiful piece.

A stunning piece, bringing energy and light into a heartbreaking moment. Chikazunga's dialogue feels so utterly natural, with pacing and reveal that doles out the perfect drip of pain and empathy - We're just right with these characters, as their traumas unfold. A beautiful play, about a tough subject, with multidimensional roles for women and layers of subtext to discover. So well done.

Such a lovely piece, a deep well of feeling, smartly crafted to offer breathtaking range for two young actors. Hageman's dialogue sings, bringing us close to a moment that is so familiar, yet approached with an honesty and emotional distillation, that we very rarely see. So much to admire in this work, that looks at mental health and asks us to explore how our simmering, societal constructs might contribute to the challenges we face. So much, in just a few pages. Wow. Just - Wow.

Is this a Saturday night salon at Gertrude and Alice's dinner table? Are we to enjoy more politesse, an uptick in civilité? As Proust says, "Let us be grateful to people who make us happy" — And few things could make me happier than Scott Sickles writing a play for and with and about Matthew Weaver. These bi-coastal besties are *leveling up*: Transforming NPX into a theatre of conversation and exchange rivaling the coffeehouses of England! Seeing Sickles offer a play to Weaver is like hearing that Rodin got a painting from VanGogh. (I mean, not exactly, but whatever!) BRAVO!

I've been wanting to read this play for months, and finally got the chance - And wow, it does not disappoint. Rios writes with a visceral truth, a tactile quality, that is impossible to ignore. Rhythm races here, content painful and resonant, a back and forth specific yet universal. This is a uniquely rich play, one that creative teams could develop with the intentionality and discovery process, often reserved for much longer works. I look forward to seeing this play onstage as soon as possible.

Poor Maury - he's tried everything. In this moment, a relatable conflict gets a theatrical work-up, for full comic potential and powerful effect. Calandrino's taut dialogue and quick pace build this two-hander to a frenetic place, in just a few short pages. A great arsenal for a creative team to explore!

Only the mind of Matthew Weaver could put Bigfoot on the Staten Island Ferry, with themes of "Law and Order" and — it all works! This ten-minute nugget is hilarious, physical (Um, BIGFOOT) and delightfully paced, with comedic pitches that take me right back to the cumulative months I've spent commuting on that damn boat. I can say, with good authority, that the actions depicted here are *not too outside of the realm of possibility* -- My only question is, how did Bigfoot (A Pacific Northwesterner) get to NYC? Maybe, like me, he rented a U-Haul? TWO BIG(FOOT) THUMBS UP!