Recommended by John Busser

Oh My God! Someone please produce this! Evan Baughfman has written a perfect one minute play with such a fun hook, that people will want to see it just for the novelty of the actor of actress with the talent to pull it off. A winner for sure.

A first sentence is supposed to grab you and make you want to read more. Viraj Shriwardhankar accomplishes that and more here. A monologue that treads where few, if any, have ever gone. And what a delightfully weird path it weaves. A (pardon the pun) coming of age via a math quiz, a firefighters calendar and a trip to the American Museum of Natural History sounds almost wholesome. Well guess again buddy. Viraj don't play that game. As you'll see to hilarious affect.

I'm a sucker for Sci-fi stories AND stories where someone gets their comeuppance. This one has both. Although I really wanted to see Mark become more devolved than he already was, this was in some ways more satisfying. Sarah isn't the doormat she seemed and held Mark's fate in her hands. Her showing mercy shows how evolved she is. The setup is intriguing, the characters nicely drawn and Rachel Feeny-Williams has another winner here.

It's hard to recommend a play about a child bing shot in a drive-by, but it would be criminal not to. Deb Cole has written a heart-breaking short piece that focuses on the collateral damage of just such a shooting. A family becomes nearby victims as they must face the aftermath of a tragedy. The physical disarray of the set paints a vivid picture, but the characters experiencing bewilderment, grief and hatred shows much more how the effects change those on the periphery as well. This is so well done. A well deserved recommendation.

WOW! Just... wow! Something titled "Stork Patrol" sounds innocuous and goofy. This is neither of those things. It's deeply dark, wickedly funny and as pointed as a pricker bush. Deb Cole has taken the hottest of hot-bed issues today and shown the hypocrisy that so many people are guilty of for their willingness to take away a woman's right to choose. I wouldn't want to be the audience member who gleefully embraces the overturn of Roe v Wade while watching this. I'd like to be next to them though, so I can watch them squirm.

This is just the kind of play I love to read, and I'll bet it would be even better to see staged. The humor is fast and furious, the characters all portrayed perfectly. This would be wonderful for child actors and don't (pardon the pun) kid yourself. This play isn't only for children. Adults could benefit from the message too.

Not all scars are physical ones and they can cut much deeper. Marjorie Bicknell has written a terrific monologue for an older actress that just crackles with memory triggers for audience members. Who among us doesn't have their own accounts of the unfairness of being 9 in a world where parents can be uncaring and siblings a pain in more ways than one? I loved this piece.

D.Lee Miller shows us that some people filter life just a little too much through their prejudices and can't just see (or in this case, hear) how beauty can exist if you'd just let it. No one sets out to do art (here, a live concert performance) to provoke jealousy, but leave it to people to find a way to bring it to the table. This monologue shows the tightrope that all artists walk when they put it out there. If only audience members acted more like a net instead of a concrete floor.

We all need someone we can connect with and it doesn't matter if you are organic or inorganic in this powerful short piece by Jeff Soesbe. The characters each give the other a reason to try to survive even as all may be lost. And it seems that guilt, which most times is a bad thing, can be a wonderful motivator. I really enjoyed this one.

Megan Schumacher has written a very short and sweet play about dealing with those pesky night monsters under the bed. I would love to see the individual productions take on each monster as there is plenty of room for interpretation. REALLY nice twist at the end. Such appropriate music too.