Recommended by John Bavoso

This play is just plain fun! I’m an unrepentant sucker for puny wordplay, and this play delivers in spades. With a warm heart grounded in the power of art to provide comfort and companionship, Gill has created a lovely piece of theatre that would make a great addition to any short play festival.

This is a beautifully poignant play about how our relationships transcend death and the need for the living to go on. O'Grady has created such well-rounded, authentic characters within a world of the supernatural, all within 10 pages. Highly recommended!

This play has an incredible rhythm, laugh-out-loud-funny lines, and is alarmingly relatable to anyone who's ever had an office job. I imagine this would be an absolute blast for a pair of game comedic actors. Highly recommended!

A truly hysterical comedy with a delightfully effed-up premise and some laugh-out-loud funny lines (Jeri, in particular, would be a great role to play). Wobensmith smartly infuses Eric with both an off-putting cockiness and pitiable naiveté, causing the audience's sympathies to flow back and forth naturally. I would love to see a full production of this one day!

I was fortunate enough to be in a workshop taught by Chisa about how to write characters who hate you, and in this heart-pounding, suspenseful, highly theatrical piece, she brilliantly practices what she preaches. While tackling huge issues like gentrification, performative wokeness, and the dismissal of Black women by physicians, this play remains laser-focused on the characters at its center while delivering legitimate scares and righteous comeuppance. Everyone should read and produce this play!

In SITTING SIDE BY SIDE, Cayson simply but tenderly renders a conversation between two friends on the verge of perhaps becoming something more but not quite getting there. In just a few short pages, you can really feel the longing and near misses. Beautiful work!

What starts as a raucous night out between old friends quickly shifts to something darker and more existential as secrets are revealed and niceties abandoned. Young has a way with tempo and naturalistic dialogue; I really felt like I was in the room. HELL IS EMPTY is a powerful meditation on life, friendship, and death — well done!

I was sure I wasn’t going to want to read a play set in quarantine for a very long time (if ever), but then Rachel Lynett had to go and write this stunning script suffused with yearning, loss, forgiveness, and connection. Deep knowledge of the play on which it’s based isn’t necessary to enjoy or be moved by it. While still in progress, AS YOU ARE offers a beautiful and engrossing look at what a play about these times can be, social distancing or not. Excellent opportunities for actors of color, musicians, and designers as well!

I love when a play digs into a little-known historical event and teaches me something while entertaining me at the same time. With PREDICTOR, Jennifer Blackmer has provided a masterclass in excavating history while doing it in a way that’s funny, warm, exciting, and highly theatrical. I was riveted from page one and can only imagine how fantastic it will be to see brought to life on stage. Yes, for much of history “Anonymous” was a woman; but Blackmer has done superlative work here to give an overlooked pioneer her due. Read this play now!

I want to crawl into this play and live there forever! Adam Szymkowicz has created a delightful, escapist fantasy that I imagine would be a joy to bring to life for everyone from designers to actors to audience members. He’s managed to write into being a world that feels as warm, funny, and inviting as curling up with a big mug of tea under a soft blanket and reading a beloved book. If you need a heartwarming smile and good-natured chuckle, give this script a try!