Recommended by Tom Moran

An interesting mix of light family drama, Dickensian holiday self-reflection, and some traditional Santa tropes, "Visit" is something of a grand tour through the holiday, structured around an homage to "'Twas the Night Before Christmas." Guaranteed to generate a warm fuzzy for anyone with a fondness for the Christmas season, and to generate some laughs and smiles along the way.

Had the pleasure of acting in this piece at the Valdez Theatre Conference and greatly enjoyed it. It tackles modern issues (religious speech, entertainer/politicians) but feels very much timeless; it's shambolic, large-cast nature and indeterminate setting all give it the feel of a play put on by a traveling troupe in some undisclosed boondocks. Equal parts funny and chilling, it really does feel like a play for our times, and for all other times as well. Would be very fun to stage.

Considine's imaginative spin on epigenetics takes on a lot in 10 minutes: family estrangement, historical drama, LGBTQ issues - and weaves them into a drama rooted in very human stories. An interesting concept spun into an absorbing short piece.

Higbee uses one of the great works of antiquity as a jumping-off point for some inspired silliness in this winning comic short, leading up to a fun and knowing punchline.

A taut, absorbing, thought-provoking drama that is probably the best play I saw at this year's Valdez Theatre Conference. Gernand takes a relatively minor bit of vandalism and spins it into an engrossing (and often quite funny) tale filled with richly-drawn and wholly believable characters. It's piece that takes us on a real journey even as it stays rooted in time and place.

It's always fun to watch Shakespeare go sideways, seldom more so than in this delightful foray into sci-fi that lives up to the goofy promise of its title.

A fast-paced, chaotic, very funny look at a modern election day. Does a great job of skewering pretty much everyone without avoiding some of the land mines of writing about politics. Would be great to see staged, especially the spectacle of the repeated technological failures.

Accurately captures the well-meaning-but-often-totally-destructive nature of the talkback session. The genius of the piece is in the particular play being discussed (no spoilers!), but it also works on a universal level, exhibiting the human tendency to offer needless advice just to fill space. Eminently relatable, well-paced, and ends on a satisfying and appropriate note.

An thoroughly fun 20 minutes of bloody, pitch-black chaos, ending in a hilarious final scene. Rife with physical comedy and sight gags, it would be a hoot to see this staged.

A fun concept, well-executed. This would have worked perfectly well as a skit and seems headed that way, but the last three pages do a great job of defying expectations (as well as being quite hilarious in and of themselves!) and creating a wholly unexpected narrative arc. Well worth the read and would be great on stage as well.