Recommended by Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend

This monologue juxtaposes losing a tooth and losing a nephew so beautifully and devastatingly. What a beautiful study on grief and pain and how we bear them.

I was hooked on this monologue from the opening line ("Okay, Chad. I'm going to interrupt you there!") So clever and fun! This outrageous, well-read, and offended bridesmaid would be a blast for an actor to play.

This play feels like a lot like a 21st century “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” The couples bicker, the dialogue is sharp and often very funny, and it’s full of rich details (my favorite one was the playwright constantly quoting famous people.) A really lovely exploration on love, trauma, and talent.

I adore this play. It’s hilarious from the very first exchange, and it speeds along, twisting and turning and surprising you until the very last exchange. I was genuinely surprised and struggling right along with Eddie to catch up as new reveals are made as the play unfolds. I can’t say enough good things. Read it, produce it. It’s hilarious and smart, my favorite combination.

I love this play. A WASP-y Connecticut family ends up refugees in a Middle Eastern nation thanks to a new American civil war. This dark comedy flips the script and reminds us to treat refugees as we’d like to be treated, because you never know when your luck will run out. This play is timely in a hundred ways. Just fantastic.

Scott Sickles's writing is always a treat. He manages to make the mundane poetic and give voice to tiny moments I find hard to verbalize, like this monologue about falling in love (kind of, in a way) with a stranger in an art gallery without the stranger even realizing it. There are so many beautiful, simple details which really make this monologue beautiful and bittersweet.

I love how natural the dialogue is in this monologue, as Amanda interrupts her own story with asides and non sequiturs as we all do, especially when nervous. That nervous energy is captured so sweetly here. Such a great monologue.

This monologue (for an orca! too much fun!) is silly on the surface, but sad underneath. Luna is happy to be fed and kept company by humans, but he hasn't seen his pod in a long time and he's afraid to go looking for them on his own. The play touches on the consequences of what we're doing to our oceans and the interconnectedness of all life on earth. You get the sense that Luna is trying to make the most of bad situation. Sad sentiments delivered in an upbeat way always feel the saddest. Such a great piece.

This short play about two comedians - one at the end of a failed career, one at the beginning of a (possibly) bright one - is surprisingly touching. I especially enjoyed the ending, as well as the nature vs nurture musings throughout.

This sweet short about a human who gets an upgrade and a robot who needs one has a nice message in it. It would be a fun two-hander for a pair of actors, easy to stage, and cheap to produce, since the props are all pantomimed. It would be a clever, original piece for a night of shorts.