Recommended by Aly Kantor

I'm not sure I've EVER seen a poly relationship depicted in a play - which is exactly why this piece is essential reading! Not only will the charming characters look incredibly familiar to young, queer audiences, but I'm certain they'll open minds and hearts. Plus, it's just plain good writing! The play is consistently funny, containing a clever, chameleon-like narrator and many perfect opportunities for a dose of design and theatricality. The line "There weren’t pronouns neo enough to evade his erotic embargo" nearly killed me! hahaha! I love the way it comes full circle by the end. Wonderful!

There is a relationship between love and belief, but how far could you extend your disbelief in order to demonstrate your trust in your friends? This engaging, high-octane sci-fi short may be out of this world in more ways than one, but it's really a story about friendship, love, and sacrifice - like the trolley problem on planet-sized steroids - and for a story about aliens, it is unquestionably very human. I love the touches of the mundane at the end of the world. Lovely!

While an audio drama always invites participation via theatre of the mind, this piece leaves nearly everything but emotion to the imagination. It's a blank canvas where a listener can project their greatest fears, ensuring they're involved and invested from page one! Creepy!

I love the way this cute sci-fi short plays with our expectations about the genre - rather than a future full of code names, excessive tech, and jargon-laden protocols, these frustrated colonists crave simple, elegant solutions without the "futuristic" frills! Ironically, this piece would make an excellent piece of Zoom theatre!

One of my father's favorite adages is "Would you rather be happy or right?" In this clever sci-fi short, our two lovers chose happiness, leaving the science-minded galactic dramaturg to their facts. This play is an interesting little dive into the value of art, historical perspectives, metaphor, and meaning!

Kerberos may not be paradise, but it's the perfect setting for this sweet, succinct sci-fi speculation on what we really need to be happy, even when life isn't ideal. This piece reminds us that the present may be bleak, but the future is unpredictable in good ways and bad - beauty may be on the horizon... in the meantime, appreciate what you have!

Here we have a fascinating... conflict of interest? Cover up? Mistake? I still don't entirely know, yet I'm still perched on the edge of my seat, searching for callbacks to previous installments in this carefully constructed, endlessly compelling series! I love how the world of the play keeps expanding with each subsequent installment, broadening just a bit while revealing that it may be a very small world indeed. It was fun to finally meet Jason, who came up in Part #2. So many questions remain - for the reader and for poor... Jenny?...Tammy? Whoever she is, her plot thickens!

I decided to jump right into play #2 of this series, which should tell you just how taken I was by the previous installment! Immediately, readers are lulled into the sense that this is a more human chapter in the story - but just when you think there might finally be a trustworthy character in this tale, you're left to wonder... is she sinister or sincere? Good guy or bad guy? What does she know? I have a lot of suspicions and predictions but no clear answers. Whatever the case, I am hooked!

This is a very clever, very suspenseful little piece written masterfully by the wonderful Joe Swenson. Given a single human character to latch onto, we have no choice but to empathize with Jenny, clinging to her as our hero and protagonist, even as the piece takes a turn into the uncanny valley. As the situation becomes progressively more disquieting, one begins to wonder if they have chosen to care deeply about the wrong character! Even at its funniest moments, this dystopian script is eerie, unsettling, and well-paced. I have no idea what's real—and I don't care! It's that compelling!

THIS PLAY!!! This clever summer camp comedy depends on the conceit that all of Shakespeare's young ingenues are essentially interchangeable - but in this piece, that couldn't be further from the truth. The play is full of witty, memorable, and well-drawn young, female characters with laugh-out-loud lines that will have you cackling out loud. Petri reframes our favorite tragedies as feminist campfire horror stories, forcing audiences to interrogate the tales we tell again and again. It's full of honest female friendships (and some very authentic... non-friendships) and familiar references from across the Bard's greatest hits. Smart and so much fun!