Recommended by Emily McClain

My advice to the father: don’t ask the questions if you don’t really want the answers. In Richter’s blisteringly frank one-minute play, a lifetime of childhood pain and poor parenting is laid out in the simple response to the question. How wonderful to have the opportunity for that catharsis! Would that we all could say the same. Brilliantly succinct yet emotionally powerful.

In this wonderful twist on the film noir genre, Mabey brings two delightful characters together to take the first tentative steps towards a relationship. The dialogue between the women is really sharp and funny while still being emotionally authentic. Wonderful roles for women! Produce this play!

It's a classic set up: two strangers on a park bench. But in Jack Levine's world, it's never "just" as simple as two people meeting. The quirky humor that unfolds as they each reveal something about themselves makes us all feel a little less bizarre. It's a heart-warming sweet play that never dips into saccharine. This would be a lovely addition to a Valentine's Day short play festival!

Hayet once again does a masterful job of creating a brilliant and surreal parody, completely immersing you within the world and the specific characters, and subverting that world with a wonderful twist at the end. A Clue In The Library also takes a swing at academic, ivory-tower pomposity- and you know we love to see that! Thank you for a thoroughly entertaining short play!

I enjoyed reading this monologue so much- I think the feelings Bell is exploring about the pressures to "perform motherhood" perfectly are incredibly relatable to anyone that has gone through the process of bringing a child into the world. It's humorous, touching, a little dark, with just the right blend of self-awareness. A wonderful piece overall!

This monologue is a wonderful exploration into the nature of being and the desire for connection that seems to exist even on a subatomic level. The character of North speaks with such simplistic, yet poetic, language that even the non-science layperson feels drawn to their words. Beautiful work!

Read this play! The imagry alone is visceral and compelling, but coupled with the powerful dialogue and the epic scope of these characters brings the entire piece to a truly remarkable place. Speckman's use of contemporary language and motivations brings new perspective to the women that stood at the periphery of these well known stories. I'm so excited when a play activates my "director brain" and asks me to engage with it on such a visual level. Evocative, beautiful, wet... I loved it. Well done!

This play encompasses a huge, turbulant period of American history while maintaining a laser-like focus on one woman's life. Told in staccato-short scenes the play keeps up excellent momentum as the characters hurtle towards their well-known historical conclusions. Feriend brings life to the pages of American history and voice to figures that tradionally have been side-lined or silenced all together. I especially loved reading the dialogue between Martha and Betty Hemings- Feriend did a wonderful job imagining how these two women saw each other and themselves and bringing that to life.

What a ride! Levine takes the idea of an "unreliable narrator" and doubles down in a wonderfully dark and surprising way. This play is engaging and has a delightful twist. Great work!

I had the pleasure of hearing a portion of this piece read aloud and I was captivated by the stories of this diverse cast creating a beautiful mosaic of the American immigrant experience. Adam Richter champions their experiences by using the interviewee's actual words, weaving them together in what is sure to be an incredibly moving performance. This will be a powerful piece of theatre when it's finished and I cannot wait to see it!