Recommended by Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend

This play is an amazing combination of angry and funny, and so, so theatrical - one of the characters is a rape joke and we keep sliding between some otherworldly comedy club and Lily's dressing room. From the stage direction "And then the Rape Joke strolls in the door" to the end, I didn't know where it was going, but I thoroughly enjoyed the ride and all the surprising twists and turns. What a creative, timely piece.

Well this is delightful. A pair of actors with good comedic timing would absolutely crush this informercial in which a pair of lawyers pitch their services to help obviously guilty criminals become “less fucked.” What a fun, all-American short.

This play dramatizes the plagues from the Book of Exodus, but from a perspective I had never even considered: Aaron's body creates the plagues, and causing widespread sorrow like that takes a toll on a person emotionally (not to mention the physical toll of, say, vomiting up frogs). Watching the toll each plague takes on Aaron, the guilt Moses feels in what he's doing to both his adopted and biological brothers, and how the women are the rocks who hold things together is fantastic. Also there's a joke about golf balls that I wasn't expecting but absolutely adored.

YES, PREACH. Birds are not to be trusted. I have always known this. This dark and delightful short centers two people being stalked by an evil goose (adjective unnecessary- all birds are evil). Listening to their story of being hunted by this goose is fantastic, and the ending is perfect. What a weird and wonderful short. Daniel Prillaman always comes up with the best twisted stories.

This romantic comedy between a social worker and an alcoholic is sweet and sad and as much about learning to love yourself as the story of two people falling in love with each other. I enjoyed seeing Margaret's work life as a social worker juxtaposed with her time with Geoff, away from the office, and I especially appreciated the messiness of the story's resolution, so much more like real life than romantic comedies typically are.

I love this monologue, and I wish I had had a mom friend like Shauna when my kids were small and I was barely hanging on. The detail about drying her tears on a random sock she found lying around was my favorite. This monologue captures the frazzled existence of a mom of very young kids so perfectly - and it’s hilarious to boot. The story of Jill the masseuse is great: so funny, and yet told in such a way that you recognize it for the full-on tragedy that it is to Shauna. A+

This short is beautiful - both sweet and sad. Two female circus performers are trapped in a waiting room until someone arrives who knows their real names. They've been going by the names given to them by the circus for so long that neither can remember who they really are, only who they must pretend to be. This is a very moving piece about legacy, memory, and the fear of being forgotten. The fact that they're both women makes it hit harder, as women have so often been erased from history.

This play is hilarious, but it can also switch to poignant on a dime. It's about a strange ridged (striped?) dick belonging to a man Enid arranges to hook up with through Craigslist, but it's also about silence, truth, and whether or not things happen for a reason. The dialogue just flies, and it's all whip-smart. I was giggling out loud while reading. This would be a fabulous play to experience with an audience, to hear how others are reacting and to join in the laughter - and to see how squirm-inducing some of those pauses become off the page.

Well that took a turn! This short sendup to teenage horror films is darkly comedic with a surprise ending. What a fun role for a young actor!

I love this. It's funny and poignant and humanizes these biblical figures so well. My favorite is Joseph, maybe because he doesn't get to say anything in the Bible (which made his repeated apology, "I'm not good with words," funny in the play). It was nice getting to see such a fully developed version of Joseph react and struggle and try and love. (Also Gabriel's boundless enthusiasm for everything is fabulous.) With only three characters and not demanding an elaborate set, this would be such an easy play to stage, and without any swearing, it's also perfect for church groups.