Recommended by Mike Byham

Well, that took a turn! Planned Spontaneity is an engaging short with a twist! I absolutely love stories that are fundamentally comedic yet weave in serious themes. And ambiguous endings are always a bonus - leave them guessing. Well done!

Fantasies abound! A really fun, steamy short. Love the premise and the ending is delightful. This one will leave the audience smiling. Very sweet.

Too funny! It’s about time the devil paid a visit to the one place worse the than hell! Watching the evil one get his comeuppance is so much fun! Opportunities to exercise comedic chops await the actors lucky enough to sink their teeth into these roles. Well done!

Convoluted reality may be represented by a tesseract - which is often used to conceptualize space-time. Here, Scott Sickles takes our world and current trends and pushes it through the tesseract to an irrational and disturbing conclusion. It’s an intelligent, artistic gut punch. Sickles has a knack for creating vivid dystopian worlds with gorgeous dialogue. This is fully on display with Tesseract. An interesting read, it would be absolutely captivating on stage. Beautifully heartbreaking.

Funny and relatable, Alles hits all the right notes with “Swipe Left, Swipe Right.” A relationship that appears to be over and familiar arguments sets the table for this short. I was struck by the care these characters show for each other, despite their current circumstances. The concept of husband and wife helping find dating partners for each other provides an interesting vehicle for their banter. Add Neil Young and Talking Heads references plus an ambiguous ending, and you have a real winner!

Beautifully done. So many meaningful stories packed into forty pages. And yet - it’s the simple relationship - one human connecting with another that resonates long after End of Play. I really like this play. Wonderful.

A wonderful bit of storytelling. The use of the comic book fantasy reflecting reality provides additional emotional resonance to a fractured love story where societal norms and circumstance create roadblocks to happy endings. Told with love and care for his characters, Brent Alles creates a world steeped in history as well. I can hear the patter of the snappy dialogue as the zingers fly. Funny, touching and a joy to read. Would love to see this on stage.

PRESS START TO BEGIN is a fun one-act that will entertain audiences and create a lot of opportunity for actors to ham it up on stage. Lots of laugh out loud moments. David Lipschutz has created a little bit of theatrical magic with this one. Delightful.

So good and so sneakily relevant. What starts off as a simple fantastical adventure in Jacquie Floyd-Priskorn's A SHOP IN THE DARKNESS, turns into an insightful depiction of the fragility of teenage psyche. Surprisingly effective messaging while entertaining, this play deserves production where the subject matter requires attention. Well done - bringing this bit of darkness into the light!

Grief and guilt are powerful motivators driving this fine work by Sam Heyman. Especially when familiar family dynamics are included. The journey of a young man discovering the home life of his dearly departed friend (and maybe more) is a compelling tale. Heyman's dialogue is so effective because it is so true to life. Heartfelt and heartbreaking, this is a story that needs to be told.