Recommended by Aly Kantor

This play is deliciously deft and quirky! It will lead you through the gamut of nearly every emotion with carefully portioned, thoughtful exposition, and when the full picture reveals itself, you'll find yourself blinking with surprise and delight. It makes perfect use of one of my favorite theatrical tricks - engagement through imagination. The audience can't help but lean forward in their seats and participate in this quiet, affecting magic. What an oddly shaped little gem of a short play!

This play is a structural marvel, seamlessly moving back in forth through time but never losing the engaging, baffling, brilliant plot! Theatrically, it's like an irresistible dare for adventurous directors and designers, who will be clamoring to solve the compelling theatrical problems presented here! Plot-wise, a gorgeous, esoteric exploration of the ways that both capitalism and belief (or any extreme, polarizing view) can fundamentally alter the nature of even the deepest relationships, and what it takes to maintain a connection in spite of it all. The characters are clear, specific, and uniquely flawed, and the creativity throughout is boundless.

What a rich, deeply political rumination on the nature of personhood, love, and parenthood. Deeply rooted in both hard science and the traditions of classic sci-fi, this piece is rich with speculative imagination. For a genre piece, it would be surprisingly simple to stage, with the magic coming in moments of profound simplicity, like heavy, deliberate silences. The tight, quick-moving, and affecting dialogue is the star of the show, with subtle, seamless worldbuilding hidden in plain sight. Every great AI story has something to say about humanity, and this moving, thought-provoking piece says plenty. Spectacular.

What a singularly theatrical treat! I had to google Shoebill Storks, and never have I seen a creature that looked more like a mythical, wisdom-spewing oracle! Though this play is silly and loaded with laugh-out-loud exchanges, I'm sure many audience members will come away with the wisdom that is deftly seeded into every adage and interaction, from the difference between speech and communication to the difference between wisdom and advice. The piece always feels light and never didactic, moving efficiently toward a VERY satisfying conclusion! It's tight, quick, clever, and would excite any designer lucky enough to work on it!

I LOVE this! Cross has borrowed all of the most charming tools in the Bard's dramatic toolbox to craft a clever revision of a beloved play, in which the previously passive Hero (who is "dead" for the majority of the source material) wrenches some power back and reclaims her own story! The verse feels timeless and offers a sense of heightened theatricality without ever impeding understanding... and it's laugh-out-loud hysterical! Characters who do wrong are held accountable, and I love the way the secret identities lead to such an honest, pitch-perfect, cathartic conclusion to a messy situation! Fantastic!

I think everyone can relate to the dread of accidentally butt-dialing your ex - even if we can't all relate to the specific sci-fi-flavored dread of butt-dialing your ex on your robotic roommate slash phone slash chess partner! This play gorgeously and efficiently illustrates the benefits and downfalls of using AI as a substitute for human connection... at least at the current moment, while this tech is in its awkward adolescence. Is AI isolating us or connecting us? This play suggests the answer is yes to both! A thought-provoking, easily staged piece for our current technological moment.

The amount of bittersweet specificity packed into ten minutes of epic horror theatre is truly impressive! This is the sort of play that yearns to be imagined. It would be phenomenal as an audio drama or live production with nothing on stage but a single door. Sound and atmosphere do so much work, creating a tangible sense of dread and urgency as the story progresses. Best of all, it's more than a scary story - it's a stunning metaphor that will leave you with big feelings. Brilliant, satisfying, and moving work!

Creepy vibes abound in this supernatural thriller, in which an uncomfortable conversation in a liminal hotel hallway turns into so much more. I love how the moments of highest theatricality are simple, allowing the actors to shine even above technical elements. The tension is palpable throughout but rises to a fever pitch during the shocking reversal. The final image is as creepy and enduring as it is thoroughly satisfying! A cool concept executed fantastically!

Alien languages, impossible, dimension-shifting stage directions, unique climate change implications, digital stages, simulated realities, uncanny infomercials, familiar dystopias, and compound time travel take center stage in this engaging collection of unique, funny, and terrifying sci-fi shorts! It's full of exciting challenges for theatrical designers, who would be lucky to bring these brief but complex stories to life for a virtual or in-person audience. Though futuristic, many of the plays reflect our current lived experience, and audiences are sure to relate - even audiences reluctant about genre theatre. An excellent and accessible collection of strong, unique pieces!

This is a very funny and thought-provoking play about the state of ethics under late capitalism and how they intersect with developing technology like AI. Over-the-top characters in the heightened but frighteningly realistic tech world call to question whether you can even MAKE an ethical decision in this strange era of shifting technological and political paradigms. It addresses everything from self-driving cars to ghosting on dating apps through quick, hilarious dialogue that's as engaging as it is clever. I was on the edge of my seat trying to figure out how this chaotic ride would end!