Recommended by Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend

Oh my gosh, this monologue broke my heart. Sometimes you forget how hard it was to be a kid and feel powerless, and then someone like Asher Wyndham comes along and writes a monologue to help you remember. A beautiful testament to resilience and an important reminder for us adults to have the backs of all the dino kids out there.

Given all the images of the destruction Hurricane Ida recently delivered, this monologue felt very timely. I love a piece that can both captivate you and sound the alarm on climate change at the same time. What an important message for our times, so grippingly told.

In this short play, Jackie is wallowing in misery, unable to let go of her hatred for her ex-boyfriend, whom she had loved so much that she had unwittingly transferred all of her guardian angels to him during their relationship. But now a new guardian angel has shown up to remind her that she is more than this, and that she has the power to reclaim her life and her joy. “Inhale and Exhale” is both hilarious and poignant, reminding us that our choices make us who we are, so rebirth is always within our control.

Well this is delightful. Such engaging dialogue and two terrific roles for women over 50. This short play had me grinning the whole way through, and the ending was perfect. I'm sure this would be an audience favorite in any 10 minute play festival. I only wish it were longer, so I could spend more time with these sisters.

The language in this play is gorgeous and really sets the tone of this strange sanctuary set apart from normal life, where passion is valued and allowed to run as free as it needs to, whether that will end well or end badly. An interesting look at how beauty and suffering always seem to be entwined, "The Form of Steel" gives you a lot to think about, with sword fighting duels along the way.

This short play about a librarian giving unwanted advice is terrific. A teenager has come to the library to find a biography on an important historical figure, and the librarian suggests all of his favorite people, none of whom resonate with the girl (His reaction to her comments about Teddy Roosevelt was particularly funny.) This play touches on so many different things in only ten pages, including the domination of white men in the realm of the 'historically important' and the fact that women can (and do) find themselves trapped literally anywhere by men in conversations they can't gracefully escape.

What a sweet short play! I loved watching these two women feel their way around each other, as we all do when first interacting with someone who gives us butterflies and we struggle to discern what exactly this relationship is going to be - and what exactly we'd like it to be. John Mabey always writes such realistic, relatable characters, and "The Legend of Snails" is no exception. And bonus: I got to learn several fantastic tidbits about snail sex. Ten minutes well spent!

This play is too much fun. Gluttony and Lust decide to swap places for a year, and then all the vices (well, except poor Envy) swap places for another year, and by that point they've screwed the world up so badly that the virtues have to step in. I loved the cleverness and all the tiny, smart details sprinkled throughout which made the play so satisfying. I'm sure if I read it (or saw it!) a second time, I would notice a million delightful things that I missed the first time through. So good!

This short play is so special. Carrie Fischer and Debbie Reynolds meet outside the gates of Heaven, and D. Lee Miller imagines (perfectly!) what they would say to each other. What a wonderful play which captures their dynamic flawlessly. I had a wonderful time spending time with them again after all these years.

YES. What an emotional rollercoaster, and it’s only one page long. Forget Shel Silverstein’s boy and Giving Tree, THIS is the duo I want to follow through the years.