Recommended by Adam Richter

What a sweet and laugh-out-loud play about the complexities of love! Charlie the agèd cupid is a terrific foil to Desiree, who's looking for a doubles partner. Though the play is short, Tracey Jane takes us through all the stages of romantic love and shows why it's still important to make connections, no matter where we are in life.

As well as the individual pieces in this collection work on their own, "Playing on the Periphery" is even better as a unified piece. Scott Sickles has given us four wonderful and true-to-life child characters in Daphne, Bertram, Zoey and Robert, and to watch their relationships develop from the first monologue through the final ensemble piece makes you love them even more.

Representation matters, especially in children's entertainment. I hope that LGBTQ+ kids see themselves in this delightful play and feel uplifted.

A lovely monologue that's a nice tribute from one of the most prolific playwrights on NPX to one of the most prolific readers on NPX. This made me smile.

So THAT's how it happened!
Scholars have wondered for centuries how the Roman gods displaced their Greek counterparts, but Monical Cross solves the whole mystery in one hilarious minute.

Plus, she makes Hephaestus the most relatable god in the history of the universe. Well done!

This monologue speaks to our age. It resonates not just in the words but in the source material. Ruben Carbajal created a brilliant and heartbreaking monologue out of Google search queries. This piece is fantastic.

Correct spelling is important, kids — although without it we get brilliant comedic gems like this outstanding play by Kelly McBurnette-Andronicos. The comedy in this short piece builds at a great tempo from bizarre miscommunication to full-on absurdity, featuring the devil, a cop and a Jesus who's WAY too much into saving our hero, Pam.
Clever writing and great physicality make this a perfect play for a night of shorts. Bravo!

A brilliant satire and a perfect play for our times. Steve Martin accomplishes so much in so few pages, and the result is a disturbingly funny comedy. Bravo!

"Naturalized" is a brilliant satire on identity and immigration, as well as a warning to be careful what you wish for. all of the roles are terrific, but the back and forth between Alex and his sister Taylor are comedic gold.
Bravo!

Christopher Soucy puts us right in the middle — no, not the middle — in the end of the classic horror movie, when almost everything that could go wrong has gone wrong and there is still an eternity before the characters have any hope of survival. This five-minute play throws audiences right into the thick of the crucial climax, giving us a terror-filled spectacle that spares us any exposition. We don't know why we should care for these characters, only that we do and we want them to live. Will they? Find out for yourself.

The language and movement in this gem of a short play are so much fun to read. They'd be an even bigger joy on the stage. Charles Scott Jones' short play is a wonderfully comic piece about the struggle to move on after a breakup, especially when the person responsible for the breakup won't leave the room. Fantastic!