Recommended by Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend

The DIALOGUE. This play has such wonderful, realistic spousal dialogue, and it all builds to the most amazing monologue of compassion and righteous rage and the spirit of what the holiday season is supposed to be about. Timely and touching, this play is fantastic.

This short is gorgeous! So simple and small at the same time as it’s complicated and big. The conversation that these two exes have after running into each other after 30 years feels so true to life- stories of dreams achieved and unrealized during the time they were apart, comments on how they no longer look the same as they did when they were younger. I love it. And I especially love the hopeful note. Even in our older years, there are possibilities.

I love this short about the aftermath of the 2024 presidential election. Reading the first half felt like a revenge fantasy, and reading the second half felt like the therapy I need for reveling in said revenge fantasy. There is both righteous rage and wisdom in this, plus, somehow, there is room for jokes. It’s great.

Oh man, this short takes me back to the pandemic! It captures the uncertainty and the anxiety of that time so well, as well as the very common need to stay hip and current and the difficulty in giving voice to the things we do - and don’t - want. I also love that this works equally well on or off Zoom. There is so much for a pair of actors to explore here!

The short satire of a game show starts out funny and then turns surprisingly poignant by the end. What a clever concept, beautifully executed.

This is beautiful. A short play that deals with death in such an effortless way, without becoming too heavy - amazing! It's sweet and sad and even funny all rolled up into one play. A true feat.

This is an incredible example of how to construct a short play! An overly friendly neighbor asks to borrow some sugar, but that's not really what the play is about, and the subtext runs all the way through it to the reveal at the end. What a fabulous piece!

Oh my gosh. This short. There's been a murder, and as two law enforcement exes try to work out what happened, they discover the greatest gift to a sound designer ever, which reveals what happened and also had me in stitches. Then just a page later, the characters are commenting in a really beautiful, bittersweet way about how difficult it is after breakups, when you're left with all these people you love, but aren't really allowed to love. Within a PAGE of each other. Scott Sickles is a master.

Whaaaaaat this is crazy in the best way! What a unique murder mystery short with a bonkers twist at the end. I would love to see a theater company tackle this one!

This short is hilarious. Even the stage directions: "the weary sigh of a thousand civil servants". I mean, that's good. Eric Pfeffinger takes an ancient Hindu story and makes it feel completely modern. There's so much for actors to go nuts with in this - I would especially love to see this staged to see the choices made by the actor playing Satyavan, who doesn't say a word. What a fun piece!