Recommended by Emily Hageman

A powerful, deeply true monologue. This piece was a gut punch. I needed to hear it--EVERYONE needs to hear it. Salsbury has such a powerful, truthful voice--and the fact that she attached a picture of herself to this monologue makes it even more fearless. What a writer, what a piece.

Delightful and so charming and fun. Wyndham has proven yet again that he understands all voices, and finds value in everyone. I love this socially conscious teen who is so unapologetically true to the themselves. Funny, fresh, lively, and an absolute ball. Young performers would eat this us (raaaaaargh!)

Wow, this is one of the most magnificent monologues I've ever read. A truly amazing piece of writing--incredibly theatrical and beautiful and striking, and the end floored me. What a marvelous piece, I highly recommend that you take a moment to read this fantastic monologue. It won't take more than five minutes and you will be a better writer because of it. I'm serious. Read it now.

A beautiful, but starkly painful play about how in our world, there don't seem to be safe spaces any more. Carnes tells the story with every ounce of pain the situation deserves. Honest and real, Carnes hits her emotional mark with this short play.

A beautiful, poignant piece about bullying. Yes, it's funny and sweet and the main character is adorable, but there is such a big ache in this piece. Children who are bullied feel helpless and angry, and if these emotions are not heard and understood, they can turn into something very dangerous. Thankfully, Dino Kid seems to have a good idea of how we should treat each other--with respect. Wyndham is a master at melding pain and humor. Another lovely monologue from the monologue king himself.

A fabulous monologue for a feisty young lady. As always, Wyndham isn't just writing monologues to give kids something to do--he's giving them something important to say. He brings up some really good points in this piece about how kids are starting to get wise to the mistakes that their parents have made. I can see this piece being incredibly empowering for a young woman. We need more monologues like this!

A striking, surprisingly dark piece. It's funny until it isn't any more--and then, it's downright frightening. O'Grady does a marvelous thing in helping us to feel empathy for a living creature that isn't human, but is still alive--and trapped. And then, you start thinking about the cages we lock ourselves in--addiction, bad relationships, etc--and you think about how you can tell yourself "it's not so bad, it's okay, I get by, it's fine." This is a deeply layered, wonderfully written piece from a deeply layered and wonderful playwright. Read O'Grady NOW.

This play put a pit in my stomach. I have lived this play and it evoked in me such a sense of fear, just reading and remembering. Wow. This play needs to be seen and heard so that everyone involved, EVERYONE can understand what it feels like for a woman in this position.

A real gut punch of a play that would be wonderful to see performed. I would truly love to see the audience discover the play as it unfolds. It stings, there's a real bite to this play--but it's beautiful in a sad way. There's only so much you can do for a toxic person, even when that person is family, and sometimes, the only thing you can do is move on from that person who tried to hurt you. It's not easy, but it is important--and Donnelly gives us three wonderful characters and a great story to understand that.

A fascinating, lovely, poignant piece. This is a great piece for young people because it highlights something that happens to almost all of them--that terrifying moment where they dip their toe in adulthood and find what it's all about. What I love is that Bud shows her what it TRULY means to be an adult--it's not about having power over other people and putting others down, but it's about being genuine and caring and giving people a chance. I really hope Miracle figures this out--and Sickles gives us great hope at the end that she will. Wonderfully written.