Recommended by Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend

I love that this is a play about travel plans going sideways and ruining have-to-be-there family moments, but instead of anybody screaming, they seem to forge a bit of a friendship instead. I also really love the idea of our family being the universe we exist in. What a touching short!

I love Matthew Weaver's writing. It is the literary equivalent of a cozy sweater. I could listen to these two friends at the wrong intersection banter (and one-sided bicker) forever. Magical!

I love this concept of musicians as superheroes! This sweet and silly play is full of clever dialogue and wonderful opportunities for physical comedy. It would be a blast for three young actors!

A delight! A grown man with no job who is still living in his parents' house suddenly finds himself inside his video game. I loved seeing the surprising places and ways people from his life turned up in the game - and all the dad jokes, of course. Costume and set designers would have a blast with this one, as would any audience! Silly, adventurous fun.

HERE FOR IT. Teenage Jesus and Mary Magdalene are caught doing some smooching, and Mary and Joseph sit them down for honestly a way better talk than anything I got as a kid. I love how this is sweet and silly and wholesome all at the same time, while also tinted around the edges with the hint of difficult things to come.

Oh my goodness, this monologue! I've become very into personal stories with a moral at the end, and this monologue is a beautiful example of that. The details and world building are off the charts in this short but powerful example of how what's outside can mask what's inside - for better or for worse.

I love following the adventures of PI John Pie. There's such a wonderful spirit of silliness to this, through all the word play and meta jokes. It's so refreshing and delightful to read something that exists purely to entertain. I hope there are many more slices of Pie to come!

LADY MUSIC. I love this. I don't have a musical bone in my body, but I could not have been more invested in the story of two college musicians battling for superiority on the cello while at the same time trying to figure themselves and their lives out. This play perfectly captures what it is to be college-aged, trying to figure out who you are and what proves you have worth. Aly Kantor is a treasure. A perfect play for two young actors!

Art and history and music! It is all here! What a fabulous play, combining the Impressionists with their context and inspiration. In addition to being entertained, you learn things along the way - always a wonderful combination.

I adore this short! Nice to know even the devil gets frustrated at the DMV. What a perfect comment on how absolutely unnerving the bureaucracy can be. If Nora Louise Syran wrote a whole collection of shorts about the devil encountering mundane modern-day hells, I would read them all. Too delightful! (10/14/24)