Recommended by Robert Weibezahl

There is a venerable tradition of “found poetry” and with this play Carbajal has done something similar—constructing a found play from the pages of Craigslist’s Missed Connections section. The found phrases, brilliantly reassembled, form a moving and telling tapestry of voices that is by turns funny, poignant, and lusty, underscoring our shared desires, loneliness, and need for human connection. Bravo!

This is a very subtle and wise play. In a series of beautifully rendered scenes, presented in a scattered chronology, Molly Wagner empathetically explores the long relationship trajectory of a man and woman—he a Catholic, she not—and how the structure and strictures of religion both impel and impede their lives and love. With its frequent shifts in time and mood, it requires a deft hand from director and actors, but it would be a worthwhile challenge to tackle a staging.

At first glance, this short play is a gentle, nostalgic slice of life about father, sons, and America’s national pastime. But the subtext digs much deeper into subtle issues of understanding and acceptance of the differences that sometimes threaten to divide us. Clyde’s quiet, uncritical acknowledgement of his less conventional son’s reality is touching and his powerful final words - ‘Just ... listen’ - speak volumes.

Arianna Rose never fails to delight with her plays, and in this short comedy she reminds us that even the most tendentious mother-daughter relationship has room for growth—and that shared passions can manifest in surprising ways.

Lermond ‘flips the script’—instead of giving us American tourists abroad, this charming play centers on an Irish couple out of their element in trendy Hollywood eatery that, despite the name Flanagan’s Pub, bears little resemblance to their usual haunts in County Limerick. But the best travelers are adaptable and the middle-aged O’Sullivans prove surprisingly open-minded in the end—which earns them, and the audience, their just reward.

Rinkel has very effectively updated six of Chaucer’s tales for our times, and cleverly framed them for a group of modern-day ‘pilgrims’ trapped in flight delay hell at JFK. In a recent reading over Zoom, the skilled actors captured the manic humor of the bawdier tales. Rinkel’s wordplay is extraordinary—filled with unexpected rhymes that will delight not only those who know the originals, but anyone who appreciates accomplished playwriting. Kudos!

Coming to terms with death, with one’s sexuality, with one’s identity, and with a painful past—a parcel of very weighty subjects to unpack in one play. Yet Deray manages to counterbalance the gravity with an honest and heartfelt humanity that exudes from the page (as it will from the stage). Asher’s genuine journey will speak to many who have been guided along the road to their particular selfhood by a special mentor. A worthy and authentic play.

This charming little online encounter among three tenants in a building says much about our shared experience and connections. Chekhovian in the delightful way it locates the essence of humanity in the everyday.

A delightful romp that pokes fun at the tropes of superstition. Preuss’s clever set-up takes some surprising turns and keeps the audience laughing from start to finish.

Certainly one of the most intriguing and accomplished short plays I have read. Carnes creates an encompassing world—totally relatable yet tantalizingly alien—that is neither here nor there, now or then. She then conjures up an encounter that is rife with questions about fate and human existence. Questions for which, perhaps, there can be no answers. This one will keep you thinking. A small masterpiece.