Recommended by Rachael Carnes

This is just too funny! Martin's penchant for zippy dialogue is in full form here - I was even chortling to myself on the landing page. These bonkers characters leap from the Reality TV genre, and bat around each other like a pack of craven contemporary commedia del arte players. I heard the emcee as Chuck Woolery, and as I read, memories of thousands of hours watching shows like this came flooding in. What fun this would be for a creative team to sink their teeth into - tons of comedy fodder.

Beautifully complex in its crafting, and featuring Hoke's razor-sharp wit, TEACH explores the edges between what we think and what is — Digging into the way our perspectives and identities shift and tilt and bend. The piece features terrific contemporary roles for younger actors, but all the characters feel so developed and real. The whole world of the High School feels available: I can hear the bells, smell the cafeteria, see the shine on the linoleum floor... Within this familiar environment, Hoke exposes brittle politicking and boundary-pushing, within a system where powerful dynamics are at play.

And now I'm crying. What a gorgeous play! The relationship between these two brothers feels so rich and so real. I immediately connected with both of them, and hung on every single word as their dialogue played out. Goldman-Sherman discovers incredible theatricality within this realistic conversation. This play explores the space of not-knowing with tremendous creativity and heart. A terrific opportunity for two young actors to shine!

In this tightly developed ten pages, Hayet takes us on a hilariously engaging journey through the territory of childhood fears. This play is so funny - until the moment it's not. No spoilers, but this lovely piece reverberates with meaning and profound experience. Writing like this, that can come at a hard topic from a new angle, is remarkable, readable and would be so compelling onstage.

Spare and open for interpretation in many directions, this tête-à-tête explores the real emotions that lurk just below the surface in any seemingly innocuous conversation. Sapio's rhythm and energy flow through the language play, creating cohesion underneath the back and forth banter. This one feels almost dancelike -- On the page, it's brief, but there's a lot of dynamic change, from line to line and page to page. It would be a fun one to take through the rehearsal process, and even more fun to see produced.

Vic and Olive are spoiling for a fight - And this one's a doozy. Gardner packs a wallop in this short play - with twists and turns that are both funny and devastating. Tense, yet ambiguous, this well-structured play is crafted to edgy effect.

Tautly bound yet deeply felt, this moving sci-fi play pierces beyond the fantastical into a realm where emotion can be explored, where character and motivation are defined with the scantest poetry. This play is a requiem, a saga of a death foretold. Exquisite and lovely, biting and clear - Vaughn lifts the energy up higher and higher, and then lets us fall, slowly, inevitably. The writer even discovers meaning in the quiet.

This play is incredible. Razor-sharp, with a commanding point of view, and at the same time, it's just funny as hell. Langford works within themes that are at a constant, rolling boil in our society -- and she does so with such confidence and verve. I wish I could see this onstage, and producers should pay attention: Langford has penned a complete world that asks us important questions about how technology and the future digital age are fueled by our past, and present. There's SO MUCH pressure-per-square inch, on every single page of this script. I'm blown away.

Thank you, thank you, Emily Hageman, for introducing a snappy, engaging piece that would be a BLAST for teens or young adults (or probably anyone) to perform. There's such a paucity of great roles for young actors - I've been to so many regional competitions and seen sooooo many high schoolers earnestly playing roles for someone 30-60 years older than they are. But what do young people want to say? Hageman has a gift for humor - throwing shade and super-zingers - and always coming back to this lovely, open emotion. I just love her balance of sharpness and surprise.

I'm supposed to be reading holiday plays but it's been a bit of a week so instead I'm distracting myself with delightfully weird and engaging sci-fi dystopian nightmare fuel like this terrifying and twisted play! Koivisto's language is a great blend of lyrical word choices and bold, relentless rhythm. This dialogue ratchets up the pressure and splays out all over, til what you thought it was, and what it is, are a distant journey. It's artfully structured and yet leaves plenty of room for actors and directors to interpret. Happy holidays!