Recommended by Peter Fenton

Whoa!! This three-person coming-of-age play takes such a dark turn and yet feels deeply reflective of what it's like to grow up as a gay kid, especially in a small town. Stephen Redmon-Byrum's realistic dialogue for all stages of childhood really punches up the deep emotion and tragedy of this story. Excellent work!

A deliciously dark monologue for the oblivious everyman during a zombie apocalypse! Highly recommended as an audition piece for a 40-something man going out for a dark comedy.

What an intriguing character drama! I find it fascinating to think about what a conversation would look like with a soul lost too soon, and Brigit van Gemeren explores some heavy unresolved interpersonal drama cloaked in religious language with an ending that feels truly fitting for the unresolved nature of regrets, Catholic guilt, and dying young. A fascinating, quick read!

An intriguing, very human confrontation of America's uncomfortable, racist history—literally. I was struck especially by the early line, "we’re dealing with a ghost here. He’s trapped in time. If you stab him in the heart, like he wants you to, he might just be getting what he wants." How interesting it is to consider what happens when we invite "relics" of the past to come face to face with what they really stood for. Thought-provoking and clever!

Two of my favorite traditions are having actors play complete nonsense with a straight face and blending the mundane with the fantastical. Weaver's 10-minute play has both executed deliciously well!

This play is—for lack of a better word—epic! Yoshikawa has done something I've never quite seen done before: create a play in the grand style and language of Shakespeare but with a distinctly postmodern narrative. This play MUST be read aloud in order to fully appreciate the depth to the language Yoshikawa brought to the piece. It is unmistakably Shakespearean, and yet unmistakably speaking to the here and now. Well done!

I love any little gay love story and Claudia Haas has written a beautiful slice-of-life scene exploring a bit of the dynamic between a lesbian couple in the Midwest. I enjoyed the beats of humor (like substituting profanity with literally the word "expletive") and the tenderness of the situation, especially with two women at different points in their journey of self-acceptance. A quick, satisfying read!

As someone who has also developed an impossible crush on the subway, I found this piece especially relatable. Emmy Kuperschmid has written an intriguing, thought-provoking zoom play. A dark comedy to be sure, but also a powerful illustration of how the pandemic has messed with all of our human-to-human interactions. I especially love the monologues for our lead role, January—Kuperschmid's style blends true-to-life dialogue with spoken word poetry in a way that must be heard aloud. Highly recommend this quick read!

This one is a short, poignant monologue reflecting on how honest Emma Lazarus’ words really are at the base of the Statue of Liberty. I’ll definitely be thinking about this one next time I see Lady Liberty.

I'm so happy I stumbled upon the excerpt of this play! Emmy Kuperschmid has great comedy chops on full display in this short excerpt and I'd be intrigued to see the rest of the script to see the full arc of the promising synopsis. Also... I love a good pun more than anything in the world and I'll be laughing about the Clean Elizabeth II for a while.