Recommended by Lindsay Partain

This play, this love letter, has stolen my whole heart— it is truly lovely. The characters Lamedman has created are so rich and complicated and relatable; they are flawed and heartbreaking and SO SO FUNNY! If you’re in need of some chicken soup for the soul, please read this piece- better yet, get a friend and read it out loud together. Produce it, give the people we knew and the people we’re becoming a voice and a space to continue growing in love.

This play is so chalk full of compassion, and empathy, excitement (and distractions), laughter, and bravery-- and then we get a glimpse at the core of it all; at the bleeding middle of all the reasons we wake up to be as good as we try to be there is a sadness. A little broken piece that carves up our smile. Rushing writes: "Art is the closest thing to magic we get here in the real world..." and this right here? Happy Wright? It's magic. This piece has so much life to offer and it needs to be onstage.

"Countdown" is such a sweet and funny short play for two actors! The awkward glory is all too relatable, and it is expertly balanced with genuine tenderness and the comfort of being with someone you know and trust to take care of you. A simply lovely play that would absolutely delight audiences.

Aaaand now I'm crying. Rachel Lynett does a truly gorgeous job of writing a sincere relationship filled with love, hardship, compromise, and LAUGHTER. All of the "what if's" and the "maybes" exist here in "Adored You" and it is a beautiful thing.

This play makes my heart want to burst—there is so much sweetness and magic and love in this script! Buck’s “Anypl(ace)” has fabulous and fun roles for non-binary actors, it’s easily producible, spectacularly written—and perfect for colleges. Add this to your reading list and send it to your director friends immediately.

Oooh my goodness! This is how I wanted The VVitch to feel. I listened to The Bell Witch on Cone Man Running’s War of the Words Podcast and it had me shaking in my car! Carnes does a fantastic job of setting the haunting atmospheric tone and playing with language. It takes the trope of helpless women and gives it a furious spin for revenge that I wish we were given more often in the horror genre—and what a twist at the end!!! An easily produceable, wickedly entertaining 10-minute play.

A beautiful display of the strength of a woman—the strength of a parent. Philip expertly shows how we try and rationalize human sacrifice for a war that no one quite understands. There is no weakness here—just a mother standing strong as she can in the face of uncertainty. A beautiful monologue that throws the audience right into the heart of the full-length it was extracted from.

Fresh, hilarious, dark, and HUGE. Gonzalez packs his talents for pushing you off your chair in laughter and then kicking you in the gut with heavy doses of reality. Prepare to be stomped into the ground and covered with all that brown stuff as it hits the ugh...booty fan. "Escobar's Hippo" reminds us all that humanity is grotesque, viscous, and morbid--and the only thing separating us from becoming true animals.

Where to even begin...This is not your average living room drama, no. “Paletas de Coco” by Franky Gonzalez is a father’s beating heart. It is a journey marked by a son’s worry stones. It is heartbreaking and vulnerable—hilarious and devastating—it will tear you apart with its honesty and put you back together again with hope and sunshine. In life we have so many moments that are not an “if” but a “when”—when this play makes its debut it is going to take over the world.

No one writes parenting quite like Gonzalez. "The Age of Understanding" gives audiences a glimpse at the humor and the terror a father experiences the first time they are left alone with their child. This is more than a silly "how do I change a diaper?" skit--Gonzalez skillfully forms his characters and cracks them open for all to see; showing you their deepest fears and insecurities projected against their hopeful futures. The person behind the parent. A rare and gorgeous representation of fatherhood.