Recommended by Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend

Believe Me is a great short which keeps you on your toes - You think you know, and then you realize you don't know, but NOW you know - except no, you don't. This is a compelling story about who we owe allegiance to and who deserves protection and how good people can sometimes find themselves in a morally gray place without a clear path forward.

This collection of short plays works its way through a year of Jewish holidays, and by the time you get to the end of the year, you will have felt so many emotions: The plays go from happy to sad to weird (things get SO WEIRD at times, and always in the best ways.) Both a cohesive whole and a collection of shorts which can stand on their own, this would be a wonderful show for theaters of varying budget and cast size needs, as it’s fairly easy to stage and endlessly adaptable.

I read this one for the title, and you guys, it delivered. 10/10, nothing has ever delighted me more. This is a theater lover’s Christmas fever dream. Where is Mark Harvey Levine’s Pulitzer? If I saw an evening of holiday shorts and it was just this play five times, I would not complain.

This motley collection of old toys reminded me of the Island of Misfit Toys- they just want someone to appreciate them instead of languishing, forgotten for another year. What a fun holiday short full of nostalgia, a reminder to appreciate what you have, and a happy holiday ending. Cute and clever!

This is adorable! I would definitely have been friends with these two when I was a teenager. The dialogue felt very true to life for theater-loving teens who blur the line (harmlessly, haplessly) between appropriate fandom and inappropriate stalking. What a gift of a play for two young actors!

This short is too much fun- plus it gives you very, very silly tips on how to survive just about any disaster which you will, in all likelihood, never face. But always best to be prepared! Actors and audiences would have a hoot with this one.

This short is lovely! A beautiful meditation on life and death and friendship and the passage of time. I love the relationship between these two women and the twist at the end.

I love this short. Such a perfect play for this moment in time, as we continue to run through Earth’s limited resources as we rapidly approach the tipping point. I love the message, the use of the fourth wall, and everything about the color green. Especially everything about the color green. What a smart, poignant, wonderful play.

Vince Gatton is such a treasure. This short is about a mom trying to get her son to turn his music off and focus on writing his college essay- but it’s a Vince Gatton play, so of course it’s about so much more than that and you’re going to go on an entire emotional journey of love and loss and change and growth all in ten minutes, but it all fits together seamlessly and never feels like it’s doing too much. It’s so good, and it seems so effortless. Amazing.

I love how this short plays on our expectations as we see the hardened interrogator whose techniques make the cops watching vomit (my favorite of many fun touches!) There is so much comedy to mine here for actors in both the dialogue and the physical moments!