ONE MINUTE. Trystan needs help.

ONE MINUTE. There's time for a drink before dinner.

TEN MINUTES. Teenage siblings Vince and Violet are excited to finally meet neighborhood legend Keith Liddell -- the toughest, meanest, baddest kid in the history of Emerson Avenue. The meeting takes a turn for the worse when their image of the childhood legend doesn't mesh with the reality of the adult version.

ONE ACT. Lying on his deathbed, Montresor confesses to God how he killed Fortunato.

ONE MINUTE. Helen and Margaret, two married women, find solace in the brief amount of time they spend together. They disagree on wanting more from one another.

FIVE MINUTES. Dick Overtron, a married man, just wants to have sex with another guy. So he appears as a contestant on the hottest show in the world, The Down-Low Dating Show, in hopes of finding the sort of hot, masculine buddy he wants and deserves while his wife travels on a tour bus. It's a shame things go wrong.

Playwright Emily McClain needs to tell you something. She yearns to speak the truth. She is ready to talk about the reality of things.

TEN MINUTES. Eddie is having a difficult day. Neither sublime affirmations from https://www.louisehay.com nor the perfect lemon sponge cake with raspberry filling can help. Sure he's getting married to the man he loves -- a Baptist, bisexual, vegetarian accordion player -- but he realizes that he himself isn't interesting or layered enough to make the marriage last 'til death do they part.

TEN MINUTES: Abe, a sheepish man in his late 30s to early 40s, puts himself through a test to better understand his true nature. He understands his true nature and rejects it.

TEN MINUTES: Third-grade student Inez Cupcakes is good at math. She is especially good at multiplying numbers in her head very quickly, to the amusement of her friends and delight of her teacher. But Inez's friends talk with her only about math, she may become the teacher's pet, and a jealous student asks her to answer incorrectly once in a while. Inez has math problems, and not the fun kind she likes to solve; but with gentle coaxing from her teacher Miss Ella Louella Santa Rose Plum, Inez knows the best answer to all of them.

TEN MINUTES: Third-grader KiKi Pineapple uses her imagination to defeat enemies of Earth during recess, but her empathy and kindness are what saves the day when a bossy classmate makes fun of her.

ONE MINUTE: Enid wants to be part of a pie fight. Dinah does not.

ONE MINUTE: Simone wonders what all the fuss is about while her husband runs around naked off the Extraterrestrial Highway in Nevada's High Basin Desert just after 6 in the morning. Gale then points out the obvious.

ONE MINUTE. Maria, the office place lemon face, is ready to give Ginny a piece of her mind. Because sometimes things like that have to happen.

ONE MINUTE. La Maestra prepares to conduct an unusual orchestra.

Perhaps for the first time, HERO must make a major decision that permanently affects where life will lead. Many OPTIONS beckon, not all of them good, but the choices must be made, the journey continued.

"The Paths" is an experimental, near-silent, multi-scene, movement-dominated play about choices made, paths chosen and disregarded, and the first and final moments that bookend life.

Upon awakening, Puppers is off and running. This puppy is full of vim, vigor, playful exuberance, and perhaps a wandering mind that is instantly transfixed by whatever crosses it.

"Puppers" is a monologue about enthusiasm, joy, exploration, energy, and good cheer as shown through the comic antics of an eight-month-old puppy.

TEN MINUTES: Wanda is being recognized for her complete oeuvre of poetry this evening. Unfortunately, she is completely aware that her mastery of words, images and poetic devices is slipping away.

"Recognition" is a monologue for a middle-aged female actor that explores no longer being able to do what one was meant to do.

ONE MINUTE: The group has assembled in a safe space, but the enemy approaches. The rules for surviving are laid out.

FULL LENGTH: The highlight of forty-year-old Benny V.'s day is eating his microwaved dinner and falling asleep at 8 p.m. in his apartment decorated with old college dormitory furniture. Then a mysterious invitation leads Benny V. on a journey that connects him with new people, places, and experiences. "The Subtle, Sublime Transformation of Benny V." looks at how we engage the world and how going outside our comfort zone affects our lives.

ONE MINUTE: Third-Year Scholar Novotny and Distinguished Professor Andraslev survey a park covered with several growths of lichen. The future plans for the area depend on what the pair learn about the past while in the present.

TEN MINUTES: College-aged students Paul and Con notice one another for the first time. The pulse quickens, breathing turns shallow, gazes linger, but neither can bring himself to say anything to the other.

TEN MINUTES: Hollis prepares herself with lists of facts so she can succeed in her mission.

FIVE MINUTES: An ever-growing chorus of diverse voices speaks against the rise of hatred, bias and inequality due to religious and ethnic or racial differences. More of the disenfranchised seek to share their story, seek to be understood by white, Christian Americans, which could lead to uncomfortable conversations and soul searching. What can white Americans do as internal strife grows?

The perfect remedy: a 2-CD compilation called "White Noise," which plays over the complexity of today's world with soothing, easy-to-appreciate babble of little consequence. Available at several convenient locations, including most broadcast and print media.

TEN MINUTES: Emotions run high in the judges room during an art competition. Two judges implore the third judge to vote in favor of their favorites, and when the artists are invited for interviews chaos erupts.

TEN MINUTES: A middle-aged man and a young man stop in a barren, desolate space. They fold clothes and place them into suitcases for their next journey. But arguments arise about leadership and bad life choices.