Recommended by Robert Weibezahl

Bruce Karp’s plays often provide a compassionate, humanist perspective, and ANGELS AND PASTRAMI is no exception. A charming, thought-provoking fantasy with very real and timely underpinnings, this story about the harsh reality of being unhoused contains surprising multitudes – and much to ponder -- in its richly-wrought ten-minutes. The ending is both heartbreaking and heartwarming.

A sharp, daring, and utterly compelling portrait of four (real-life) women who shaped the legacy of modern art as they struggled to shaped their own unconventional lives. Arianna Rose displays her usual passion for finding truth through words in a play filled with rhythmic dialogue, honest emotion, and extraordinarily well-drawn characters. This always absorbing play pays great, overdue tribute to some under-sung women from our cultural past.

Bruce Karp’s beautiful, heartbreaking short play touches on many of the painful, violent, confusing realities we live with today. There are no easy answers, but if communication and love are our last best hopes, 15 SECONDS offers a welcome entry point. Karp’s fierce scenario and well-crafted words will make you cry, but more importantly, they will make you think.

Pity the teen whose entire social worth and self-esteem hinge on text communication. An arcane typo from your boyfriend could trigger an emotional tsunami. That’s what happens to Jackie, the alternately sharp and shattered fifteen-year-old who delivers Arianna Rose’s high-octane monologue. In just one minute, Jackie runs the gamut of emotions with hilarity and heart. Though the technology has changed, the hormonal histrionics of teen angst are eternal. A great piece for a young actor who wants to show off her acting chops.

Death and funerals can bring out the best or worst in families. Sisters, Angela and Laura, display both traits in this subtle and pointed short play. Restrained expression masks a long-buried affection; A true sense of concern lurks beneath the prickly conversation. Every moment rings true. Two great parts for a pair of mature actresses.

Nick and Lauren are like a million couples: she’s overworked, corralling and chauffeuring the kids, while juggling graduate school, too; he’s frustrated by the changes in their marriage, yet a little less help around the house than he could be. But from the expert pen of Marj O’Neill-Butler, don’t expect the pat outcome. I CHOOSE YOU is an endearing short love story that shakes up all the tropes and keeps hope burning bright. Perfect for Valentine’s Day festivals.

The person we were at 16 or 23 or 49 lives within our present self, pestering us about what we did wrong in our lives or might have done differently. Arianna Rose gleefully plays with this reality in this very clever and frequently hilarious short play: a dream-dialogue between a woman of 61, hesitant to dive back into the murky waters of the dating pool (in the dream logic guise of an actual pool), and her younger incarnations, both callow and jaded. A pitch-perfect script for a range of female actors/voices. Read it. Relate to it. Produce it.

Why we write; what we write; who we write? This charming two-hander is a puzzle box dialogue between a writer and his character that explores the act of creation, what is real and what is imagined, and how it can be impossible to shed the impulse to write, no matter how hard one may try. Every writer will relate to this on-the-money scenario, which Williams brings to life with humor and head-scratching moments of familiarity.

Head on over to the Gateway Cafe for some good grub and a reality check. Williams repeatedly undermines audience expectations in this witty and thoughtful look at "America" today. As he targets the duplicity – triplicity? – of our elected officials, he reminds us that we mustn’t judge folks by our preconceived perceptions of what they should be. This large-cast short is a perfect fit for festivals in both red states and blue.

In just a few minutes, Bruce Karp takes us on a roller coaster of emotions – grief, resignation, hope, joy, disappointment, and then, in the end, acceptance (with another dash of hope for good measure). This brother and sister’s shared experience will speak to anyone who has sorted through the detritus of a life as well as anyone who has placed their hopes on the shaky good fortune of chance. A lighthearted comedy that provokes full-hearted thought: a rare thing indeed!