Recommended by Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend

The short is not only funny, but smart-funny, which is the best kind. And two of the three characters speak in a historically stylized way about seemingly contemporary things, which makes it even funnier. The juxtaposition of ancient and modern works really well in this play. I'll bet this is a hoot to see live!

As a mother of small children, I feel this one minute play, deeply. Debra Cole has captured the struggle so perfectly in only one minute! This would get a lot of knowing chuckles in a night of shorts.

Nobody's perfect, and Shawna tries to talk her mom off the ledge and convince her to go on her planned second date with nice-guy Sean. In addition to being very funny, this is a sweet mother/daughter relationship play, with a lot of tiny details to delight and amuse along the way. This is a fun and funny ten minutes, plus now I really want to watch that documentary.

This play is gorgeous and hilarious, and it raises some excellent points about society and the agency of women (or lack thereof) at the time "Much Ado About Nothing" is set - and today as well. What a well-crafted, wild ride of a play. I would love to see that sex ballet on stage!

I adore this play! Pontius Pilate has to scare a woman having a near death experience into reforming her life, Judas Iscariot is given a task that just might finally get him into Heaven, and St. Peter writes sci-fi novels while sitting at his post outside Heaven's gate. This play is packed with humor and so, so smart. I was enjoying myself so much that I couldn't believe I'd already reached the end. Each of these 5 characters is an actor's dream, and the play raises some very profound questions among all the laughs. Terrific!

Oh my gosh, YES. Two recently-decapitated chickens reconcile themselves to the fact that they are about to die, and it's funny. But also, the chickens are, at moments, pretty profound. Also, one is definitely a murderer. What a mix. I love this short, and I didn't want the play or their little chicken lives to end. May we all face death like these chickens.

A nativity play. In hell. With poorly made puppets. Obviously, this short play is perfect. Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson (whom I was unfamiliar with, but am now mid-google deep dive on) is in charge of putting together this nativity play, but her leads, Lucrezia Borgia and the devil, aren't making things easy for her. This play is hilarious, even as it flips the script on what we think we know about these people, and it ends up being a wonderful morality play. Again - and this can't be stressed enough - with poorly made puppets. I love it.

I love how this short begins by acknowledging how few women hold positions of power in the film industry, escalates into calculated insanity, and brings it back to the lack of women by the end. There are some great opportunities for physical comedy in here, and some truly delightful dialogue.

Charles Scott Jones has such an ear for dialogue! Spatsy's voice in this monologue is so distinct - Jones nails a teenager from southern Illinois perfectly. I enjoyed Spatsy's story about one night she snuck into her classmate, Lydia's house, especially the slow shift that took place inside me as I read, from 'Ah, teenagers' to 'This feels like too much' to 'Is this girl a psychopath?' What a wild ride this monologue is. The moral of the story: Don't cross Spatsy Klotz.

I love this short! Jess is on a ladder, putting Christmas lights on her house by herself for the first time, and her neighbor, Dan, an expert Christmas-light-hanger, wants to help but doesn't want to offend her. I love the realistic tone of the dialogue, and how the story doesn't end neat and tidy, but more open-ended. It also deals with loneliness at the holidays in a really lovely way. Plus, I just really like the stage image of two actors on step ladders, calling across the stage to each other.