Recommended by Aly Kantor

What a heartbreaking glimpse into a gorgeously specific moment that is, nevertheless, hauntingly familiar to so many. A single prop does so much narrative work, but what stood out to me was the natural dialogue, with all its camouflaged pain and thoughtful imperfections. It's so clear that these two characters live in distinct realities that overlap just enough to make the wounds they inflict on one another sting. I commend Polak for writing Cary with so much intelligence and dignity! Gorgeous.

I appreciate the way that this play offers two contrasting points of view. It would have been so easy to choose one and argue for it, but nothing about this play is easy. Both sides of this debate are valid, leading to a moving, humanistic conclusion about an individual's right to decide who they are and how they express it. It felt like an allegory for so many of the issues individuals with marginalized identities are facing today, making the sci-fi premise feel contemporary. Engaging work!

I really enjoyed this urgent, high-octane short, which takes no time to launch into the heart-pumping action. I particularly appreciated the reveal of the relationship between the two main characters, which added additional emotional urgency to an already taut, high-stakes play. The final reversal shocked me, but with the power of elevation, I knew a satisfying ending was on the way! Well done!

I love the lusciously languid, painfully prescient, decadently language-rich world of this play. I find myself fascinated and inspired by the simple theatricality of the amplification and the ways creatives could use it as a basis for staging this fever dream — live sampling, perhaps? I was fully engaged in the act of seeking out the intersection between the foreign and the familiar and placing myself and my loved ones in the labyrinth. The words do so much work so effortlessly. Gorgeous.

I needed a laugh, and this tasty comedy, which "layers" history, melodrama, and investigative journalism, hit the spot! This is the type of play you can't help but quote out loud to the unfortunate, disinterested people who are in the room! It's raucously hilarious, delightfully melodramatic, dazzlingly theatrical, and moves at a breakneck pace! It's not JUST silly, however - which, frankly, would have been enough. It has a deeper message (LAYERS!) about why the REAL truth matters! BRAVO!

A cluttered room loaded with dusty antiques forms the incredibly atmospheric backdrop of this magical journey into unreality, in which two women, presumed to be sisters, rehash a dark and painful event from the past. The language is stunning, bordering on poetic, and the moments of magic and wisdom kept me guessing about the circumstances until the last line. Ultimately, this is a stunning, poetic play about the fallibility of memory and persistence in the wake of grief. Stunning, moving work!

This play imagines a future in which advanced AI is really making humans obsolete in the workplace, revealing the flaws in using tools to boost an economy that relies on an employed population. Meanwhile, we get to know the new AI employee, Evelyn, as she encounters concepts like privacy, stigma, tentacle porn, and grief. It's dark, it's thought-provoking, it's uncomfortable at times, but it's INCREDIBLY funny with an absolutely PHENOMENAL twist! A super entertaining, surprisingly moving play!

Not only is this script packed with nostalgia that adult audiences want to see (Gameboys! Ace of Base!), but it's also full of roles that middle schoolers would die to play (Scrappy orphans! Rich popular girls!). There is nary a stock character to be found, however. Every kid in the play is smart, resourceful, and motivated, and I felt a sense of urgency right from the beginning. The sense of comradery between the kids was so moving! A fantastic youth play that truly has something for everyone!

Somehow, this tiny, farcical, breakneck play addresses all the major beats in Act I of The Nutcracker... in the most abbreviated, ridiculous manner possible! However, it's the framing of the goofy performance that is the sugarplum on top of this goofy comedy, in which a troupe in a pinch enlists a reluctant stage manager to deliver the performance of a lifetime! It's a super silly theatrical treat for anyone, like myself, who loves the source material and wants to poke fun at the story! Fun!

Okay, I CACKLED! This is a viscerally gruesome but ultimately very funny microplay that will definitely have audiences squirming in their seats - and, luckily for them, it accomplishes this in a lightning-quick one-minute run time! Enjoy the full-body cringe, relax into the genuine laugh of catharsis, and then move right on to the next! haha! Bravo!