Recommended by Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend

Vince Gatton’s plays are always so consistently wonderful. There are a lot of stories about teenagers realizing that they are definitely, absolutely gay, but they’re rarely this creative and fun - and simultaneously stressful and sweet. All three roles would be fun for an actor, especially the actor playing a box of Calvin Klein underwear (THAT’S RIGHT) who only utters the word “Hey,” but imbues it with a zillion different meanings.

It's hard to make a Zoom play that's touching, but that's exactly what this short piece is. An apocalyptic catastrophe has occurred, and the only known survivor makes contact with an astronaut stranded on the International Space Station. Their loneliness and their need for connection is palpable, but never overdone. This is a lovely play about a friendship - and the hope that friendship fosters - keeping two people alive for years. I can't believe how powerful it is for as short as it is. And I really liked the ending.

This play touches on so many things: The criminal justice system in America, our love of sensationalism and stories by and about murderers, addiction, forgiveness, and the meaning of redemption - but my favorite part was the throughline on pens and ink, which turned something I never think about into poetry and magic. I'm going to be looking at pens differently from here on out.

Oh my gosh, I love this. I LOVE this. Being a woman - whether in the eyes of God or the eyes of the law - is hard, and this short play captures the anxieties and heartaches of both 13-year-olds and 20-somethings so well, and with such humor and, ultimately, hope. Like... I really, really love this.

Oh man. Panto stories are so much fun. The evil Reality steals (and edits!) a bunch of classic fairy tales, and Madame Storyteller and her friends have to confront him and set things right. The rewrites were a lot of fun and made some pretty good points (Cinderella DID only just meet the Prince - can that really be love? Following a stranger IS a very bad choice and maybe Alice should forget about that rabbit. The Genie DOES deserve benefits from their employer, etc.) This is some great fun, with songs and a happy ending to boot!

Oh my gosh. It's hard meeting your partner's family for the first time, and the Bartlebaums don't make it any easier - but they think they are (the detail of everybody calling Dane "The Great Dane" was fantastic), and that's what's so delightful about this short play. It's a comedy about family togetherness (and oversharing) at the holidays which descends into calculated insanity. The stage direction "It is somehow sweet and weird at the same time" is the perfect tagline for the play. I love it.

This short is a lot of fun. In particular, I like that the audience chooses the winner, so the play could end three possible ways (I'm rooting for Mario - A plumber AND a doctor? That's a good person to have around.) I also really enjoyed the commercials, which were very both very silly and very clever. This play would be both easy to stage and thoroughly enjoyed by anyone who grew up playing Nintendo games.

I love this short play. It's hard to write plays about death and grief without them feeling overwrought, but this piece is perfect. Little details get dropped all along the way which pay off emotionally in the end. I saw this performed with Playground-Chicago over Zoom, and I would love to see it again live and get to feel the audience reacting to it. It packs a big punch in only ten minutes.

Oh my gosh. This one-minute comedy is fantastic. It might be my favorite one-minute play ever.

This short piece is VERY satisfying: An internet troll suffers consequences for his actions. What a concept! This dark comedy is SO sharp and utterly original. I loved every twist and had no idea how it was all going to wrap up in only ten minutes. Ann Marie is doing the Lord’s work. Bless the Internet God. FYAD.