Recommended by Robert Weibezahl

Who’s afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? This clever and charming monologue sheds new light on the misunderstood DeVon, a maligned lupine loner who just misses his mom (and the French tarragon she used to cook with) and hopes to share some witty conversation and sample of bit of the three little pigs’ fragrant stew. What could possibly go wrong? This monologue is perfect for actors and audiences, both young and no longer young.

A brilliant premise, the perfect set-up, and characters as endearing as they are off-kilter make ORDAINED the ideal ten-minute comedy for any festival. A recent radio production of this piece by The Open Eye Theater proved its versatility and adaptability to audio drama as well. A gem.

Arianna Rose proves the worthy heir to Sholom Aleichem in this short slice of historical drama about a strong-willed Jewish girl in 1911 Romania. Faced with the prospect of a preordained life of marital servitude, Gittel opts for self-reliance, with all of its scary adventurous promise. A beautiful reminder of how women have always changed the world, even when they were told they could not.

No one can bring inanimate objects to life on stage quite like Arianna Rose, as she proves once again in this hilarious, clever, and very relatable short play about resolutions, will power, temptation, and human weakness. Sweet Cookie, seductive Ice Cream, and salty Chip all have their hooks in struggling food addict Casey, who tries to resist each one’s mouthwatering charms. When self-righteous Kale bursts on the scene to save the day, the smug, cruciferous green proves not the superhero Casey needs. Even the title of this comic gem is perfect. Read. Laugh. Relate. Produce!

Fun skewering of homogenized Hallmark/Lifetime holiday movies and the shot to the heart a “serious” writer gets when turning to that particular “art form.” All writers will relate to the process of seeing their work eviscerated. Perfect for holiday shorts festivals.

A clever and oft hilarious 21st century riff on “The Taming of the Shrew” that turns it on its head with delicious feminist sting. Petruchio’s mansplaining, gaslighting, and other forms of psychological abuse are called to task when contemporary audience member O’Felia crashes the production and schools the initially compliant Kate on the way things ought to be. Latham brilliantly blends Shakespeare’s most famous lines with her own modern dazzling wordplay. Bravissimo!

Very thoughtful and absorbing play set in the teacher’s lounge of a contemporary public high school. Ruyle pits six teachers with different teaching philosophies and techniques in a lively argument that exposes the cracks in our narrow thinking about educating a new generation. Joni, a holistic humanist, wins that day as she penetrates the hardened heart of burnt-out math teacher Frank. And the never-seen Jason, a remarkable student facing domestic struggles, takes center stage (despite never taking the stage), reminding the teachers—and us—to think outside the box. Never didactic, YEAH, ART FIGURES gets an A.

Soltero-Brown wields razor-sharp dialogue like a scalpel as he peels away layers of the rancid onion that is love/life/relationships in this skillful dark comedy. The complicated dance of words between these friends and (erstwhile) lovers as they prepare on a wedding day is syncopated by wholly recognizable anxiety and doubt. The language, which fluctuates between the crisply pared-down and heightened tongue-twistery is masterful—Pinteresque and Shakespearean at once. BEST OF HONOR has much to say about the ways we state and misstate our intentions and how we interpret and misinterpret the truths of even our most intimate relationships.

Quirky, funny, and heartfelt, TREE HUGS is a wholly original short play that turns an anthropomorphized hallucination into a tender exploration of nature, grief, reconciliation, and love. Read in THE BEST TEN-MINUTE PLAYS 2023, where it fully deserves to be.

Philip Middleton Williams is indeed roasting chestnuts in this delightful bon bon of a holiday play that takes expert aim at many cultural Christmas clichés. Williams’s (multilingual) wordplay comes fast and furious as the ghosts of three iconic figures play a game of verbal one-up-man-ship as they “haunt” poor melatonin-addled Steve. Many holiday-themed short play festivals will snap this one up – assuming they have actors with the chops to impersonate the legendary players. Thanks for this charming Christmas gift, Philip.