Recommended by Philip Middleton Williams

This is a wry look at family values, told with understated and steely directness. Heard at the 2019 Midwest Dramatists Conference, Richard Lyons Conlon gives us a family that has an interesting look at the priorities when a not-so-loved one is on his way to a dirt nap. You can't help but relate to each of these characters as they work to reset their moral compass.

A lovely and poetic testimony to a friendship struck up between two lonely people riding the Staten Island Ferry. Marj O'Neill-Butler has a delicate and deft touch in all of her work, but this gem, heard at the 2019 Midwest Dramatists Conference, is a charmer from start to finish.

Even if the last video game you played was Pong, this visit to the virtual world of gaming will connect with the audience and make them eager to play along. Emma Carter finds the exact right touch to bring the the Dragon Slayers to life with delightful results. Kids of all ages and skill levels will love this play.

The tension in this ten-minute play builds like the storm clouds this husband and wife are seeking to find shelter from. What begins as a squabble over a radio turns into a metaphor for the harsh and dangerous realities we all worry about, and this tears away the veneer that they have used to cover their faults and fears. A very good moment, especially seeing it at the 2019 Midwest Dramatists Conference where the weather can become scary all too quickly.

This is a love story with all of the warmth and hope that comes along when two very different types realize through all the outer differences that they have so much in common. It has everything you want in a short play: characters you care about, dialogue that brings them to life, and the awkward tenderness that makes the two young men in this story so attractive to the audience and to each other.

The voices in this short play are powerful and distinct, and Rachael Carnes has proved once again that she can bring them to the fore in ways that are funny, poignant, and sobering all at the same time. I heard it at the 2019 Midwest Dramatists Conference and hope with all my heart it is produced many times for all to see.

Imagine Jules Verne meeting up with one of the Bronte sisters and you'd end up with a delightful story of class, intrigue, and manor manners on a distant moon. It's all a fun romp, and as Her Majesty might note, "We are very amused." Heard at the 2019 Midwest Dramatists Conference, it was laughter all the way.

The lesson of "those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it" is taught well and powerfully in this ten-minute play, heard at the 2019 Midwest Dramatists Conference. Lindsay Adams shows us how the message of the past can be a haunting reminder of how far we have to go in overcoming our past.

What happens when mythology and millennials meet? Hilarity, for one thing, and in the deft hands of Joshua H. Cohen, it's a fun romp through legend and cultural references. I loved the humor and the generous spirit of this play, heard at the 2019 Midwest Dramatists Conference. All I needed was popcorn.

William Triplett has given us a powerful and harrowing moment in the lives of two people and holds nothing back. I heard this at the Midwest Dramatists Conference 2019 and it stuck with me long after it was over. Making a hard choice is never easy, but in the time it takes to tell the tale we see how lives that have already been changed can change even more.