Recommended by Cherielyn Ferguson

This is one timely play that speaks to our skepticism of AI. Play-Bot is sure it's got the right stuff to make it on Broadway with AI-powered Shakespeare. Her human counterpart, Stephanie, begs to differ and threatens to cut the bot's cord. Fun parts for two women that offer the chance to play with blank verse. Best lines:
STEPHANIE
These are just ones and zeros.
PLAYBOT
Don't read that.
That's private.

This play is a kick! It shows great imagination and offers a fun read; it would be even better onstage. If people already foster dogs and cats, why not do the same with poets and musicians? They have some of the same needs as animals, yet also call for special handling, seen to comic effect here. You'll race through Foster Poet and be rewarded at the end with the final and best joke.

This excellent play works on a lot of levels. It offers a timely theme; six good roles for actors; and a reminder that the arts give us the strength to plow on, even in the most dire circumstances. The play reads like a dream, with sharp, character-specific dialog. And it ends with a compelling "what would you do?" Read Final Dress and come up with your own answer-- then think about whether it's the right one.

This is a great play for young actors. It offers well-defined teen-aged characters who want something concrete--to re-imagine the longstanding and stereotypical portrayals of people of color in The Nutcracker. They go after it and get it. With the help of Bruce Lee, which is one of my favorite elements in Be Like Water. Produce this play during the holiday season and you'll have a grateful audience on your hands.

Once I started this, I couldn't stop because I had to know how it ended. Quality Used Cars explores economic and gender inequality through the compelling story of a woman seeking delayed justice for her mother's rape by a so-called pillar of the community. Great dialog, well-rounded characters, and a twist at the end that will make you gasp. I did.

It's up to Ambrose. Does this talented dancer give in to circus master Harvena's humiliating demands? Giving in may get him what he wants--to continue doing what he loves. But it will kill his soul. Harvey Weinstein lives on in this two-character play, this time as an abusive, controlling woman. If you're looking for a suspenseful and entertaining absurdist play, you'd do well to choose this one. Best lines: "I swear on my children." "Do you have children?" "No."

I love this play. It dramatizes a feeling we all have sometimes--that we're not completely sharing ourselves and that other people aren't either. And it answers the question-- what if we did share? In this play, that turns out to be a good idea. Who's Afraid of the Bears offer four great roles and little need for elaborate set pieces or props. It's an ideal play for a short-play festival. Put it in your program and your audience will thank you!

This play will speak to anyone who’s ever experienced mental illness, as well as to those who’ve tried to understand it. It shines a light on how we struggle to be seen as whole by the rest of the world, while we know there’s so much going on inside us that others don’t see. That’s how Violet and Harris spoke to me, anyway. Sam Heyman’s play will prompt you to see yourself in Harris and to wonder where your own Violet might hiding be these days.

What ARE the statues and busts we see in countless museums really thinking? I love the idea that Egypt's Queen Nefertiti objects to her placement in a gallery filled with Greek statues. This is an excellent monologue that starts with Nefertiti's clear insights and reasoning, and ends the only way it can--with her emphatic decision to take action.

I'd love to see this onstage. Even though Dave is silent until the very end, there's so much room for an actor to show his stuff through reactions to his wife Deb's disappointment over Dave's gift. And the piece gives Deb plenty of the same opportunities as she travels from anger to surprise to the delight she feels when she finally understands Dave's gift to her. It's easy to stage and perfect for a short-short play festival.