Recommended by Robert Weibezahl

An engrossing monologue that will speak to anyone whose artistic ambitions (or any ambitions, really) have been frustrated by time and realities beyond their control. With the passing years those ambitions turn into disappointments and even regrets. At turns witty and poignant, this monologue is perfect for actors of a certain age.

A taut and suspenseful short thriller with a shocking twist that sends the whole thing in a new, unimaginable direction. The Theatrical Shenanigans podcast of this gem is masterfully done. Check it out. And then schedule your own production.

Olive and Poppy – the names themselves evoke the salty and sweet that reside in us all. This deceptively simple encounter between two sisters-in-law of a certain age touches down lightly yet movingly on many perennial topics, from strained family relationships to the displacement immigrants feel. The beauty salon setting is iconic. Older actresses looking to delve into a rich, subtle script should make an appointment with this two-hander.

A charming and imaginative dream monologue that pays homage in a very unusual way to the intrinsic love many have for America’s pastime. CALLING THE GAME captures the visceral drama of baseball through tropes – its rhythms and pauses, the sound of the bat and roar of the crowd – without ever showing a moment of the game itself. Clever stuff.

Cokinos’s endearing play is everything a good holiday play should be: hilarious and heartwarming, inspiring but never sappy. The humor is found in both the pointed dialogue and the clever visuals. The underlying idea that preserving traditions can save us from losing ourselves is a perfect message any time of the year. This 10-minute charmer should be in every holiday short festival.

How much of what we allow ourselves to believe about life and death is just smoke and mirrors? Mulkerin explores magic, both literal sleight of hand performed onstage and the illusions (and delusions) we adopt to get us through the impossible. With sharp irony, this play counterpoints a magician who doesn’t believe in magic (because he knows how its done) and his once more clear-eyed brother who reluctantly does – if it means some measure of peace for their dying mother. WHEN ILLUSIONS END is built on an ingenious premise and is layered with pathos and insight. Bravo.

Arianna Rose lovingly resurrects the all-but-forgotten story of illustrator Frank Leyendecker and his better-known brother J.C. (creator of the advertising icon the Arrow Collar Man) in this heartbreaking historical play. Like any complicated life, so many themes interlock, including sexual conflict, spiraling substance abuse, sibling love and rivalry, emotional betrayal, and most of all the sanctity of art. This atmospheric play is so visually imaginative on the page, one can clearly envision how it will come alive on stage.

A gleeful cacophony of Florida birds squawk bad puns and corny jokes in this hilarious and brilliantly campy short play. Then, Pete the Coyote’s tragic family story provides the hoot-filled “acme” of the piece. Comic anthropomorphism at its best and the perfect vehicle for avian-identifying actors everywhere.

Donnelly’s gut-wrenching short play hearkens back to the darkest early years of the AIDS crisis, when fear, prejudice, ignorance, and conservative moralizing stripped away the legal rights of same-sex partners as their loved ones died. The final moments of the play are devastating, and serve to remind us that no matter how far we have come as a society as a whole, the petty and hateful continue to insert their narrow sanctimony into other people’s private lives. This play should be performed everywhere and often to educate all who have forgotten or are too young to remember.

Two young missionaries wrestle with their confining faith and burgeoning sexuality in this frank and surprise-filled short play. With elliptical dialogue that is reminiscent of early Albee, Donley has fashioned a contemporary Cain and Abel story with a shocking ending that takes no sides. Vivid staging possibilities await the right director and actors.