Recommended by Alice Josephs

A monologue to sweep up reader and audience as married Ester on the spur of the moment joins a seniors’ speed dating meet up. Taking place in four locations as well as the mind of Ester, this has the feel of a fully rounded play and character. An affecting and superbly crafted piece for an older female actor with an acerbic medical aside and economical in its use of words to crescendo yet stopping any descent into sentimentality.

We join a pair of high schoolers on their psychological waltz after they break into a classroom after school hours. The relationship between the pair is reflected in the violence of the filched class paper poem but we also see how working together they not only bond but grow, they think, to understand the teacher whose private domain they invade. Two fulfilling roles for young female actors in an exciting blend of dynamic physical action and dialogue, this is a thought provoking, theatrical piece with an unexpected trajectory and two females characters we can believe in.

The Lords Of Misrule take over in this seriously funny short as college hierarchy is tipped over in every direction. Incitement, would be suicide, motivation and questioning all collide as the audience is forced to question where play acting begins and ends. With four strong roles requiring versatility and complete believability in role reversals, this sharp comedy also demands adept physicality with the director keeping the visual and dialogue clear and in sync. A virtuoso, imaginative layered, precisely timed entertainment.

A publishing deal, a deal for the people of America — and the parole board. A convicted murderer finds himself at the centre of competing claims once he pens a potential bestseller. Not least those of the victim’s family, his own family and his own conscience and soul. Constructed within a prison framework, a series of stories works back through his life and psyche. Working on several levels, this is a resonant play asking tough questions of current day America, fame at others’ expense and, by the end, literally, of the audience.

Unusually for a play set in the midst of the Vietnam War, a gentle piece centring on sweethearts facing up to things beyond their control. A delightful seasonal two hander directly encompassing believers and unbelievers with seamless changes of mood and sympathies within its short span. Two distinct characters and points of view make this a gift for a pair of young actors with the change from the light hearted to the momentous. Also with the opportunity for inventive lighting as the soft Christmas snow falls. A different kind of holiday drama which lingers in the memory.

A great family-friendly vampire spoof when an ordinary Jo (well, Trevor in reality) finds himself adopted by a motherly vampire in a neighbourhood bar. As Trevor starts questioning his transformation, Drusilla loses control of her apprentice with a stubborn earthbound streak as he tries to adapt to his new situation. Played straight with three chompingly good roles for actors of any age, this is a pacey piece appropriate for high schoolers or much older, uncomplicated staging possibilities, a funny situation and abundant quips.

Truth or consequences in this short of shifting points of view and reversals. Nelms gradually unravels a fateful tale moving from seeming neutrality to guilt, through an intimate scene, then the catching of an intruder and a final event where we share the uncertainty of a character in a complete change of perspective. Set in one location, this is an easy-to-stage resonant three hander, one woman and two men, in three scenes. It allows casting choices for clearly defined characters to affect meaning in a situation archetypal in its reach with global disquiet over policing.

A one act restaurant play with a difference where an unseen waiter who has just served dessert is pivotal in this pacey, entertaining four hander for two men and two women. This is a classic farce, with a misguided formal marriage proposal, which airs modern concerns and comes to an unexpected conclusion. Zaffarano deploys considerable skill with crisscrossing dialogue and ratcheting up the stakes as social media gets involved. Totally delicious as assumptions are skewered in an à la carte menu of mistake and mayhem before compatibility wins the day.

A short which uses a supernatural horror framework to make an audience truly feel the horror of domestic violence. The play offers opportunities for inventive staging to director and technical crew as well as two strong roles for actors: the hitherto sceptic who must live with the legacy of the abuse and the psychic investigator shaken as a woman by what she finds. An original, disturbing and visceral piece.

A kooky (pun intended!) pacey short piece for a quartet of actors. Sharp, effective writing, exits and entrances insures the laughs will keep on coming and with scope for director and actors to up the physicality as well as verbal dexterity of the piece.