Recommended by Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend

A couple finds their sex life has gotten stale and is trying to figure out what to do about it. Also, their home is haunted. I loved seeing these two things juxtaposed, and then watching them merge. Not only is this short fun, but it’s a good example of healthy communication.

I love this short. It takes a ridiculous, antisemitic conspiracy theory and turns it into a play that is funny, philosophical, and dramatic all at once. It’s so rich for only ten minutes, and the ending is perfect. This is one I’ll be thinking about for a while.

I love the banter in this one act. Maude and Alfred have decided they've lived long enough and it's time to die, so they made an appointment with Death, and today is the day. The dialogue is funny and biting, and it sounds exactly like two people who have been together forever. I enjoyed watching things escalate, particularly James's repeated insistence (falling on deaf ears) that the person who has shown up isn't Death.

What a great vehicle for a cast of young women! There's comedy, there's drama, there's physical feats and physical distress - this play is a fabulous gift for five young women with acting chops to show off! There's a ribbon of sadness running through the whole play as well, as these girls start falling to a mystery illness and find themselves both shunned and branded as hysterics. The play does a great job of capturing how hard it is to be a young woman in the process of becoming - and how much worse their mystery illness makes things.

I like the way this short plays with light and sound for maximum creepiness. Nothing truly horrific is happening, but it still makes your skin crawl - the mark of great storytelling.

This short about theatrical gate keepers is funny, depressing, and very true to life. I enjoyed the juxtaposition of Rudy, who doesn’t think any new work he reads or sees is worth a shot, and Carla, who hasn’t been jaded by reading subpar plays in a subterranean space yet. Rudy’s confident superiority at 22 years old reminded me of more than a few people from my college days, and I found myself nodding as I read the playwright’s monologue.

I loved this book when I read it in 11th grade, and Aly Kantor's adaptation is both amazingly faithful and fantastically fresh. I didn't realize it was possible to make The Great Gatsby so theatrical, but from the note "A green light (a ghost light?) should illuminate the stage from the moment the audience arrives," I knew it was going to be GOOD. It feels like the 1920s and the 2020s simultaneously. I wish I could have seen this production. I love the way music is incorporated, I love the two Gatsbys.... This play is wonderful.

Oh wow. There's a lot to unpack in this short, and I love it. I love the shifting meaning of the pile of shoes and the reminder that part of what it means to be religious is to love others and fight to make the world a better place - a crucial piece that is often brushed aside by the loudest people claiming to be religious these days. What a powerful piece that does so much with ten minutes.

If you could have a dinner party with anyone, living or dead, who would you choose? This short depicts one such dinner party, and it’s full of little reveals that kept me constantly readjusting what I thought the situation was. It’s funny and surprisingly sad at times, and wildly clever all throughout.

A one-minute masterpiece taking down George Santos and his claim to Jew-ish ness. This is a satisfying read, and I'm sure it would be even more satisfying to see, hear, and react to with an audience.