Recommended by Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend

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.

This short is adorable and hilarious and constantly surprising! I love the way Aly Kantor uses language. Her characters are so real (even when they're outlandish) that I recognize people I know in them (even when I maybe shouldn't). This is a sweet, hysterical play about fate and love and homemade bombs. I adore it!

“Your words solidified for years in our culture what’s acceptable. What’s electable.” I love this short. It’s the future, and Brett Kavanaugh comes before the Court of American Women asking to be officially declared a “good guy.” After all, he’s done some good things! He wrote the majority opinion in favor of women getting real pockets! But just because you’ve done some good things doesn’t automatically make you a good guy. What a cathartic read.

Oh my GOODNESS the twists keep coming in this short, darkly comedic epilogue to Little Red Riding Hood! What a blast this would be to watch (to say nothing of performing!) The jokes come fast and furious as you scramble to keep up with the ever-shifting landscape of what's what and who's after whom - Plus the recurring references to "The Mauling" are delightful.

You guys, this short. A studio executive meets with God to pitch the New Testament like a sequel expanding God’s version of the Marvel universe. The desperate, flattering energy of the executive is perfect, and God is SUCH a diva. I thoroughly enjoyed this.

I love this monologue. Richard Cornish, hanged for sodomy in 1624, enthusiastically welcomes Sodomy Heaven’s 8 trillionth member to the forever paradise they deserve. This monologue is so energetic and Richard just oozes joy. I love that people who were persecuted, condemned, and executed in this world get a nonstop celebration in the next. I smiled the whole way through this piece.

This play takes place in the not-so-distant future when climate change has completely altered life as we know it. Seeing the characters go about their little lives despite the dust storms and the dead fish and the fact that cockroaches are flying now feels like a highly plausible emotional place where humanity will end up in a few decades. The argument that we have to keep trying and not get complacent is a powerful and necessary one for all of us. I particularly loved June's monologues, which read like poetry.