Recommended by Aly Kantor

This play offers an intimate glimpse at two lives in parallel - the moments where they intersect and the moments where they diverge. Three actors play the two main characters at different life stages, allowing for a unique, non-linear theatricality as the narrative weaves back and forth through time. Moments gain new meaning and context as the script progresses, so there is an engaging sense of discovery. While it's clear things could have been different for these two characters, would they have been better? Can they still be better? A simple meditation on love.

While the scenario in this play is loaded with clever sci-fi elements, I found it amazing how relatable it felt. After all, didn't we all go through the experience of blinking and waking up in the year 2020, forced to get our bearings in a uniquely "interesting time?" I really liked the use of Marvel releases as a device to anchor the audience in time. Structurally, I really enjoyed how the story comes full circle, revealing information that recontextualizes everything. Vacillating between funny and heartbreaking, this is an original take on the time travel story for the stage.

The key to an exceptional ten-minute play is a brilliant reversal, and this simple and surprising twist transformed a familiar, mundane scene into something out of this world! I love how most of the action of the play happens off-stage, leaving audiences to use their imaginations, and making the stakes feel even higher! The dialogue is relatable and flows naturally, and the twist will provide designers with an opportunity to make some good, old-fashioned theatrical magic. This piece was heartwarming and left me with a hopeful feeling. Charming and easily staged, audiences will love this one!

The opening of this play evokes the direct-address theatricality of Amadeus but with an obscure story from Beethoven's history instead. From there, we're launched into a family mystery plot that weaves in and out of time, bringing audiences to the past and back again as the characters piece together what really happened. There are so many clues hidden in the dialogue, and I am sure that audiences will be on the edge of their seats trying to keep track of everything that doesn't QUITE add up. The live music will add another layer of theatricality and nuance to any production!

There is often an internal logic to the state of insanity. The true delight of this play is that, in moments in which it makes the most sense, the reader feels like they've lost their mind. It is a highly theatrical romp through the life (and the life, and the life) of Friedrich Nietzsche - a recursive history that, oddly, becomes more coherent as the madness grows more profound. You have to THINK to enjoy this play, which makes it highly engaging for erudite audiences up for the challenge! It is an ouroboros of madness, and it is fantastic!

Adam Szymkowicz has a remarkable talent for finding magical, liminal settings and filling them with profoundly human, recognizable characters. This holiday offering, set on a Christmas tree farm, is no exception! The dialogue is natural, poetic, and powerful - I especially love the moments in which the simplicity of the language adds weight to the storytelling, often when words are too much and not enough. The quirkiness shifts and transforms as the piece goes on, so there's always a surprise ahead: shifts in and out of memory, metatheatricality, dueling narrators, ghosts of Christmases past! A unique Christmas treat for all!

This sweet, silly holiday play is like an (occasionally dark and demented) children's book come to life, full of tiny characters (mice!) who, nevertheless, are larger than life on stage! It's consistently funny, fast-moving, and packed with lovable characters that any actor would be lucky to play! I love the simple but magical theatricality of the flashback scenes, which are all hilarious, stand-out moments. The ending is somehow profoundly dark and surprisingly wholesome - this unconventional holiday tale will leave a bloody handprint on your heart! A unique, memorable alternative to the traditional festive programming!

So many families include attending a production of The Nutcracker as part of their most cherished holiday traditions. This memory play jumps between two timelines, exploring one woman's relationship to the concept of family tradition, and why it can be so fraught for some. I found the ending incredibly cathartic, as the protagonist takes pains to break a toxic cycle and attempts to fix something long broken—not unlike a certain girl and her nutcracker. For a short play, it has an epic feel, with flexible, bare-bones staging that adds to the story rather than taking away. Magical!

What if, instead of being transported to the land of sweets, Clara (or, in this case, her great niece, Sarah) woke up on the fly-infested island of misfit toys? This silly short is a fun and festive sequel to The Nutcracker for young performers, but you don't need to be familiar with the source material to enjoy the puns, laugh-out-loud wordplay, and antics! I think my favorite character was the Fly Girl, a character whose commitment to the bit is as admirable as it is hilarious! This would be a fun alternative to traditional school holiday programs! Sweet!!

While this is a funny, warm comedy, there is something very honest underneath the silly antics—a statement about the challenges of altruism under capitalism, made even harder during the "season of giving." Poor Mary is only trying to do something kind, and she's foiled at every attempt - by business owners, by the city collecting fines, and by the sad and disenchanted citizens of her city. This sweet and heartwarming short asks the question, "What does it mean to do good?" and I think readers and audiences will love the answer.