Recommended by Asher Wyndham

This is one of the most intense short plays I have read on NPX in a long time. It hits hard in so many ways and times during the reading, emotionally and politically. And the surprises, the truth revealed about the characters and their position in the world, who they really are in perspective on gun violence -- effective. And the use of chorus will only make this more powerful. Should be produced everywhere part of our protest against politicians who don't do anything about gun violence and don't care.

Highly recommend this for your 10 minute play festival, especially one inspired by the Bible. A surprising spin on the Adam & Eve that iscaptivating line by line. With the lighting and sound effects and costuming, an audience will love this.

Falloween is joyous. The experience of joy is rare on stage, I think. The descriptive power of this monologue is its sensory overload for the reader. The smells, mm, the sights, aw. Audience will be charmed by this.

Merilo masterfully provides clues and exposition to give the reader the personal story, this young woman's predicament, and the political one, our divided nation. One of my favorite plays on abortion right now on NPX.

This monologue is a warning -- college admissions will see more Florida graduates desiring higher education outside of their state but lacking certain basics of their area of study. These students are victims in two ways -- by their home state not preparing them and by the college rejecting them. A smart choice for any festival/reading of monologues on American education or f'd up Florida.

Exquisite writing, it sits long with you afterward.

Talking directly to us as if we're friends at a birthday party, ADAM RICHTER wins us over with this chatty character while revealing backstory and its lasting impact on this character's emotional life and health. The turn at the end may seem inevitable but it was surprising and sad. This is one of my favorite monologues on NPX. Playwrights - read this, study it. Everyone else - produce it.

Wow, wow. You might not relate to these two teen characters at the start but by the end...you want to fuck things up just like them. Empathy and understanding for their situation in the American suburbs was surprising for me. The playwright reminds us that for the Queer community the personal is always political and it's a wake-up call to LGBTQ+ that the fight is not over because it's not an exaggeration our enemies want to destroy us - not necessarily physically but systemically/structurally. And the language - full of f-bombs - reaches insane intensity. Bravo!

This physical monologue -- any gender can play this one, I think - is just perfect for an auditioning actor. A tour-de-force of ridiculousness and conceit -- in one page! -- that will leave any audience in stitches.

Sickles does the unexpected: a character admitting their wrong, their ugliness and doing better, being better. We need more of that on stage. Only a page, only a minute, but the discussion would be much longer.