Recommended by Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend

This short play about a US Senator in the immediate aftermath of a mass shooting in his state is powerful, full of righteous rage, and cathartic at the end. I wish it were required reading for the US Congress, who offer thoughts and prayers instead of policy and change no matter how many children die. This is political theater at its finest.

This short play about the not-too-distant future is a perfect commentary on capitalism, drug companies, and how mental health is treated in America. Which is to say it's depressing and sad and enraging and makes you want to get up and change things - this is the near future after all, not the present. The characters have so much specificity and depth for a 10-minute play, and you're left grappling with all kinds of emotions over characters you've only known for a few minutes, because Aly Kantor is fantastic.

Having sat through literal years of improv shows in Chicago, this short play is too perfect. What a fantastic, original premise which somehow manages to continue to heighten and get more insane as the play progresses. This would absolutely kill (see what I did there?) in a night of shorts.

My favorite part of this short was how the ghost tour guide was really phoning it in, delivering lackluster commentary about the surroundings like, "Here. There." The play goes from intriguing to perplexing to foreboding in only ten minutes. This short and spooky play would be a great addition to a Halloween-themed play festival!

This play is beautiful! It turns from funny to heartfelt and back again on a dime and is wholly original. I would especially love to see it staged to see how the designers handle Tinkerbell and the butterflies. Gorgeous!

This post-apocalyptic play flies by, thanks mostly to the great dialogue and wonderful characters. It's about the need for human connection (I loved how they kept touching each other when they realized they weren't alone in the world - completely platonically, just a desperate human need for touch), and the play also serves as a beautiful example of how the arts (pictures, music, stories) are lifelines, not luxuries, when everything falls apart. This play is beautiful and tragic, sad and hopeful all rolled into one. Plus, with one location and a small cast, it could &should be easily staged everywhere.

I saw a slice of this play as part of Bramble Theatre's Festival of Unfinished Works last June. It was a standout for me, and I wanted to know how the play ends. It does not disappoint! This play is packed with righteous rage on a variety of topics - racism in America first and foremost - and yet it still manages to have some real moments of humor. I was impressed by how much Ben Locke was able to weave into this play, and with such a deft touch.

Oh wow. I did not know ANY of this about Edward Hopper's wife, but now I'm obsessed with her. What a sad, familiar story of a female artist silenced, told beautifully, somehow both simple and complex. It's not just about what it is to be a woman whose art is overshadowed by her husband's, but what it is to be an artist who never quite makes it in their own right, but plays a pivotal role in the creation of someone else's art. So much to think about in this short. Just lovely!

This fairytale in one act is beautiful! It's about the meaning of home, and belonging, and the desire to feel comfortable in one's skin. I love Aly Kantor's writing so much. What starts off seeming like a simple, straightforward story quickly becomes a beautiful lasagna of layers, with nuance and richness to all three characters and surprising connections between them. I want to see this staged so badly, both so I can hear the dialogue out loud, and also so I can see those WINGS! Such lovely visuals and a warm, comforting takeaway that everything returns to us eventually.

This play manages to be two things simultaneously, with great success: It's both a story about a particular religious community in a particular time and place and also a study on the nature and fragility of faith - how desperately people need something or someone to believe in, and how hard it can be to return to a place of belief once that faith has been shattered - especially when one feels complicit in aiding a charlatan. This story is both specific and universal, and with a cast of three, this would be an easy and powerful play to stage.