Recommended by Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend

In “The Artist Formerly Known as T,” a rapper named T-Rump learns that he needs to change his name if he doesn’t want his career to tank. T-Rump was his name long before someone with a similar name became President, and he wrestles with whether or not he can or should make the change. A very engaging short play about identity with well defined characters. I loved it!

This short play is fantastic. The dialogue is smart and fast and I was giggling along as I read, but the comedy kept getting darker and darker and darker, and eventually I stopped laughing. When pundits talk about theater's unique ability to teach and reach people, "Masking Our Blackness" is the kind of play they're talking about it. This one stays with you.

Ha! I think Adam Richter wrote a one-minute play about my cousin, if my cousin owned a record store. In just a page, the world and the stakes are established and a satisfying laugh-out-loud ending is delivered. (My cousin would probably cringe instead of laugh, but he's not on NPX to dispute me. Though I'm sure he would agree that the play is great.)

This felt like an appropriate one to read today, and it's a great monologue. Punxsutawney Phil goes on an angry tirade about his powers and how we're ruining things. It's very funny, and there are some lessons in there as well that we would all do well to remember.

What a creative take on Hell this is! (I love that one of the reasons these people are being tormented for all eternity is because they refused to wear masks during the pandemic.) This short would be a very entertaining addition to any evening of 10 minute plays! Both actors are given a lot of fun stuff to do, and it's endlessly entertaining watching these two garbage humans on stage.

"Four Horses" is a very entertaining play! It's about the four horsemen (or women) of the apocalypse and their scramble to find a new Death after Death is accidentally killed, creating obvious problems for humanity. The dialogue is engaging and moves at a clip, and the characters are a lot of fun. Plus, most of these characters can be played by anyone of any gender or ethnicity, which is great. It was a fun, quick read. I'd love to see it staged!

You guys, this play. The second line is, "I think I found a portal at the bottom of my rice," and you just know it's going to be a wild ten pages. A couple gets take out, discovers a portal which they figure out is a wormhole, and then you'll spend ten minutes going, "How is this going to end? How is this possibly going to end??" It's funny and sweet and strange - a winning trifecta!

Ooooh "Devil Land" is great! A couple kidnaps a clairvoyant tween and keep her in the boiler room of an apartment building, pretending to be a family. The kidnapped girl tells them that her friend, the Grinch, keeps her company and hangs out in the boiler, which the kidnappers find unnerving. There's so much more to the story, but I don't want to give anything away. I loved piecing things together as I read and seeing how everything came together in the end. If you're in the mood for something equal parts spiritual and creepy, this is it.

"Free Will" is a DELIGHT. So smart and funny. I was on board from the very first chunk of stage directions saying that Will (newly-deceased) enters with a big elephant footprint on his chest. A+, so good. I would love to see this one live. If you have ten spare minutes (and you do, you're quarantining) you should absolutely read this play.

Oh my gosh, this play reads like poetry! Claudia (aka Mrs. Pontius Pilate) blames herself for the death of Jesus as she reflects back on the events in her life that led to this moment and the storm inside her that she's always trying to keep at bay. A very interesting take on the life of a minor player from a well-known story!