Recommended by Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend

I adore Tom Moran's work, and this short musical co-written with Marty Moran is another smart, hilarious piece! Henry David Thoreau goes to his sister's place for pizza, but she has a gentleman caller on his way, whom she met on Tinder (I LOVE the explanation of what Tinder is.) It's a riot from start to finish, and it ends with the saddest, funniest tableau I've seen (well, read) in a long time. Probably since the last Tom Moran play I read.

Oh my gosh, I fell in love with these girls! This coming of age story about three friends in a Catholic school about to be confirmed captures that stage of life so well: confusion, drifting apart, strong opinions that you just formed but believe you will take to your grave, the fear of being different... It is all here, and woven together with some of the best teenage dialogue you'll ever read. This play flew by, and I was sad to say goodbye to these girls. I want to stay and see what they become!

This monologue is beautiful! It reads like poetry, and you feel for the selkie, both as another part of the natural world that man is treating with disrespect and as a woman who has been torn from her children. It's only two pages, but Donna Latham had me INVESTED - I didn't realize how much so until I breathed a sigh of relief at the ending. When I finished, I went back and reread it, and discovered beautiful bits I'd missed the first time. What a wonderful piece!

Wow, who knew a play about two life-long friends chatting in bathrooms from middle school to adulthood would make me feel so many things?? The snapshots of Amelia and Jac's lives and friendship all fall on or around big American events of the past twenty years, and they keep coming back to issues of safety: When will we be safe again? (We were safe before, right?) It's powerful and genius and there is so much wonderful humor balancing out the heaviness of the real-life events. I don't know how Aly Kantor wove it all together, but holy crap, produce this.

You will never look at Mrs. Claus the same way again! This short play is hilarious and surprising and too much fun. This would be a nice change of pace in a night of holiday shorts.

This monologue is terrific! The language is so spot on, and I loved how the way I felt toward Lola slowly but surely and completely changed as the monologue went on. I know this is listed as a radio play, but I think it would also be amazing live in a pitch-black theater. Whatever the medium, this one will stick with you.

Oh my gosh, I love this short. Jesus is just trying to die in peace, but Chatty Cathy crucified next to him won't shut up. I love a good Jesus play, and this one is hilarious. Plus with only two actors and low tech requirements, it could be easily produced pretty much anywhere - even on Zoom, if we're all driven back online. So much fun!!

This short play is wonderful! The mood is set immediately, and feels like a classic ghost story - moors and lost husbands and long illnesses - and you're drawn deeper and deeper into the world as the play goes on. It's amazing how much richness there is in only ten minutes. Plus, the ending is perfect. A gem of a short!

Oh my gosh, I love this short play! Alexander the Great has arrived. Do you submit, or do you wish to be destroyed? The townspeople mull over their choices with some smart, snappy dialogue as Alexander gets more and more annoyed. In addition to being hilarious, the play poses a good question - what exactly does a person have to accomplish to be considered Great? So much fun!

This short play about how Charles Dickens came to write A Christmas Carol is wonderfully absurd. There are so many jokes in such rapid succession that it's hard to catch them all. My favorite running bit was how Charles Dickens mentions at the top that he's paid by the word and then goes on to use more words than necessary every time he speaks. This play is a riot, no matter the season!