Recommended by Rachael Carnes

Pure gold. Diaz-Marcano does it again, with a spot-on comedy that will have audiences on the edge of their seats, cringing and cheering in short order. It's enviable how easy this writer makes the dropping in points to his plays seem. Even the stage directions are crafted in this fun, accessible style, it's so fresh, so timely, but there's not a whiff of overdramatic anything. It's just perfect.

Charming and relatable, utterly believable dialogue between parent and teen. This bitty play offers playful possibilities. Hageman is so versatile and creative. This piece would be a wonderful addition to a festival of short plays.

Delightful! This monologue is a confection of words. It made my ears hurt, because even though I walk and talk and write all day, apparently, I don't use big words, or use words that make me think, and here's a whole bunch of them! And I'm no Shakespeare scholar but I *think* the writer has worked it out in iambic pentameter. Because why the hell not? Funny and fabulous, and apparently a cheeky series of monologues, this nutty piece makes me feel happy and happy for any actor who gets to chew on these consonants and syllables. Bravo!

This play is a gem. Clever and funny, relatable, like watching two people who know each other, walk a winding road to meet in the middle, past and future, not knowing and reminiscing at the same time. Houg's clever structure creates a dynamic tension, and these characters become immediately likable. As they dance around each other, it feels prismatic, the way life is full of little angles of inflection that might create big change. I'm a big fan of the fluidity of casting. This piece would be just lovely onstage, a highlight in any short play festival.

A play about grief that will shatter you. Rios deftly builds this taut play — Not a sketch — An arc, a full story, in five brief but powerful pages. There's a communion here, a gravity that feels suspended, as though we, the audience, are caged along with this character's mourning, witness and bearing her loss. It's a play written in response to gun violence, but Rios smartly taps into the universality of losing someone. A poignant, visceral piece. So alive, even as it trains a bright light on death.

Honoring a past and a present and the uncertain future, by simply lighting a candle. Minigan imbues the light around this character with a hallowed space, a feeling of presence, the way we can pull someone up in our mind, if we allow ourselves to remember. This piece, in response to gun violence in places of worship, asks questions of faith, and of leadership, how the call to help or heal could be punctured by unspeakable horror. This play would be the point of departure in a community conversation on gun control.

Within ritual and gesture, Lawing helps this character find her way forward. There's a broken, aching quality, a questioning, and a hope, that pull dynamically in the teller. This piece offers incredible range for an actor, nuance and emotion and would be a terrific addition to a line-up of plays in response to gun violence.

This play sensitively and artfully explores themes of the deepest loss, through the eyes of children. Bohannon captures within this beautiful duet a metaphor for the senseless cruelty of gun violence, rooting our unending questions, our incredulity that insanity seems to perpetually reign, in this resounding and truthful dialogue between two girls, whose lives are forever changed. It's open and spacious, playful and fun, and in the connection that these girls share, we find all the sadness in the world.

A stunning monologue. Grady takes us on a dynamic journey, heartfelt and encompassing, infusing this poignant moment with humanity and — So rare in pieces in reaction to societal issues — Genuine humor. This piece would be an emotional anchor in a staging of plays against gun violence. What a gift.

This delightful play draws the reader in like a ghost story around a campfire. It's cheeky and fun, with a great little twist. Bramkamp's characters and creepy setting say everything about B&B's!