Recommended by Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend

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.

I adore this short! So smart and funny and also sweet, while also being true to the kinds of outlandish actions and thinking of people desperately trying to conceive, who feel they are running out of time. The exchange about bears and salmon was my favorite, and I love that it ends ambiguously happily.

I've been sitting here trying to put into words what I want to say about this play for a while now, and I'm not sure what I can say to do it justice. I love that all the characters are flawed and it doesn't feel preachy. I love that the play will make Black theater goers feel seen and force white theater goers to self-reflect. I especially love the confrontation between Jasmine and Cal being played three different times, in three different tones. This play has been in my reading list for a WHILE, and it was worth the wait.

I feel this monologue in my soul. With universality in her specificity, Gina Femia nails both the unmooring so many of us felt when a pussygrabber ascended to the highest office in the land, as well as the thoughts and feelings of a young woman trapped by her own personal pussygrabber. The toggling between the two is genius and the writing is fantastic.

What I love so much about Demon Eyes is it's an epic story about good and evil, but it's also a simple story about a young woman trying to fit in. Julessa is a demon who was abandoned and raised by a fallen angel and her husband, alongside their half-angelic daughter, Cassie. The play is a wonderful study on nature versus nurture, family dynamics, and self-discovery told through a lens that raises all the stakes beyond most family dramas. Plus the two sisters anchoring the show are rich roles different from what's typically available for women in their teens/20s.