Recommended by Emily McClain

Really intriguing and funny premise that slowly morphs into a dark exploration of twisted beauty standards and escaping controlling or abusive relationships. Kudos!

The personification of the cellular device as a living, breathing human entity makes this comedy extremely funny and dark- you'll think about it every time your "low battery" notification comes up! The exploration of how our addiction to our phones is making our overall existence worse, not better, is relevant to everyone. Wonderful work!

The limits of Sara's tolerance are tested in this short slice-of-life. The title basically says it all, but the play is a funny glimpse into a relationship that is full, rich, and supportive in many other ways. Just not alarm song choices.

Also now this song is stuck in my head. Thanks, Cole.

If you haven't read Hillary Bluestein-Lyons's wonderful play MARCIE AND PATTY ARE GETTING MARRIED, please do so posthaste and then follow it up with Scott Sickles's beautiful companion piece, MUSIC AND GOD. I love the grown-up versions of the classic Peanuts characters. In both plays, they retain the genuine warmth from the comics but manage to believably age them into adulthood without cruelty or cynicism. MUSIC AND GOD features plenty of jokes, nods to the Peanuts universe, and a potential ending for Linus and Schroeder that I want to be true more than anything! Wonderful work!

Todd and Amber try to maintain an all-too-common ruse: oh no, Mom, we're just roommates, not "living in sin!" But Beverly's not having it and she employs a very simple but effective test. The situation is handled with humor for all three characters, and this would be such a great addition to a 10 minute play festival!

This is not your grandma's classic short story! Soucy's dark contemporary take on the moral dilemma adds a wonderful new layer: the knowledge of the correct choice is given to one of the participants, but then it becomes a question of the survival of trust within a broken relationship. Tense, suspenseful, and super satisfying ending!

A supremely satisfying dark tale complete with severed head, Latin incantations, and a horrible bully getting a well-deserved punishment. The plot is carefully crafted to make you think things are going in one direction only to surprise you-- and give you something to talk about with your fellow audience members afterwards! This would be an amazing addition to a Halloween one act festival!

The DNA ancestry tests can lead to unexpected results, and what the characters in this short play do with this new information is realistic and completely relatable. Debra Cole packs a lot of emotional life into this short play. Wonderful work!

A beautifully gentle and painfully realistic portrayal of the beginnings of a relationship. I love the delicacy with which the two people navigate the awkwardness of a casual interaction that seems poised to grow into something more. Lovely work!

When you are in a long-term relationship with someone, you expect some slight differences in perspective to come up every now and again. In THE FINE ART OF CRITIQUING THE HANG OF THE SHOE, Cathro explores the differing perspectives on how one disposes of worn-out sneakers. As with every DC Cathro play, the dialogue is natural and effortlessly real and while the conflict is minor and the resolve is touching, this slice of life play will stick with you at least as long as the ratty sneakers hanging from the power lines in Baltimore do. Beautiful work!