Recommended by Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend

You guys, this short. A studio executive meets with God to pitch the New Testament like a sequel expanding God’s version of the Marvel universe. The desperate, flattering energy of the executive is perfect, and God is SUCH a diva. I thoroughly enjoyed this.

I love this monologue. Richard Cornish, hanged for sodomy in 1624, enthusiastically welcomes Sodomy Heaven’s 8 trillionth member to the forever paradise they deserve. This monologue is so energetic and Richard just oozes joy. I love that people who were persecuted, condemned, and executed in this world get a nonstop celebration in the next. I smiled the whole way through this piece.

This play takes place in the not-so-distant future when climate change has completely altered life as we know it. Seeing the characters go about their little lives despite the dust storms and the dead fish and the fact that cockroaches are flying now feels like a highly plausible emotional place where humanity will end up in a few decades. The argument that we have to keep trying and not get complacent is a powerful and necessary one for all of us. I particularly loved June's monologues, which read like poetry.

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.