Recommended by Aly Kantor

Everyone who knows me knows I am obsessed with myth, and fabulism is one of my favorite genres of all. With gorgeous language, arresting repetition, and a heartbreaking structure, Xanthopoulou manages to retell a 2,000+ year old story in a fresh way without reinventing the wheel. Deceptively simple and ripe with metaphor, it's a treat for performers and listeners alike, who may see this familiar tale in a warm new light. Beautiful!

Byham has filled me with a terror so cold that if I didn't laugh at this short, I'd weep! The truth is that this play isn't fiction. The slow reveal is great, as it really reflects the willing suspension of disbelief we all have when we engage with new writing - how we HOPE bad writing is just BAD! This play is NOT bad writing, thank goodness! It's hilarious, with great moments of physical comedy (and I couldn't help reading Leslie aloud - what a great character role). Fun and, sadly, prescient!

As specific as this monologue is, I'm sure there isn't a soul alive who can't to relate to some aspect of it, whether it's the supernova moment or the ruminations on past shame (or the relief of having meant nothing to a person who changed the trajectory of your life... ouch - that one felt targeted!). This is a natural monologue that was begging to be read aloud, and I loved having these words on my lips - though the character has ADHD, the logic of the storytelling is clear and compelling!

When reading a Ryan Kaminski play, you can always anticipate a great twist, and this micro-thriller did not disappoint! I love how much we learn from the environment - how much the play speaks through action and images before there's a single word of real dialogue. The worlds of both characters managed to feel impressively specific and complex, even given such a short runtime. This short absolutely earns its shocking, bittersweet ending, that leaves you scrambling to recalibrate!

Nora always does a phenomenal job creating unique, consistent character voices with strong points of view, almost always steeped in personal and geopolitical history, making even the oddest duck (or the Ernstest Wile) feel relatable and familiar. This is a powerful piece that, like the bedtime stores of which Ernst speaks, imparts a morale you'll be thinking about as you fall asleep - and one we can all use in a fascist age. I am so glad Ernst Wile persisted to tell this story through Nora!

This tense monologue features a tense ticking clock as this artsy assassin pens a poem - a stark reminder that every man who has ever killed was once a child, and could have been a poet. This would be a fascinating character to get to play and know from the inside, as the complexity is present, but lives so firmly in the negative space. Directors will have a field day deciding when to encourage silence and when to fill the air. This play invites you to wonder what happens after 'end of play!'

A sweet, grounded love story, told with sweetness and incredible efficiency, and utilizing some gorgeous theatrical magic tricks. While stunningly simple, this second chance tale is remarkable because we so rarely see this sort of narrative about our elder queers, and it was so moving to see them literally and figuratively return to their youths and get to experience the butterflies and awkward puns all over again. It feels so cozy and lived in, with a rich sense of history between the lines!

Ha! Hilarious from page one! I was clocking that red hat from the first stage direction! And if Hallmark Christmas movies were more like this, I might actually watch them on purpose! This short is the quintessential Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend comedy - an incredible premise, a dose of nostalgia, a plot you'd never see coming, and laugh-out-loud dialogue that's as irreverent as it is smart! Truly, the comedy here makes an actor's job so easy - and will delight audiences at Christmas... or any time!

You all know I LOVE a ghost story, and this unconventional tale, in which everyone is EAGER for a vengeful ghost to MOVE ON absolutely hit the spot! It's hilarious, but still has a lot to say about grief and regret - something Donnelly always does exceptionally well, and in vivid, illustrative, and memorable ways. I love the physical comedy in this piece, which directors will love to stage (and audiences will love to see)! It's sweet, it's spooky, it's silly... what else could you possibly want?

This is a consistently tense, high-stakes short that will keep your emotionally and mentally engaged from the first line to the last as you construct a narrative neither character can safely speak aloud. The historical world is well-drawn, with rich dialogue that teaches us as much about the world as it does about the class backgrounds of the characters. While fraught from the beginning, you will ultimately find yourself rooting for these men - I was especially pleased with the hopeful ending!