Recommended by Joe Swenson

Oh my God! Christopher Soucy, wow! Just Wow! The stakes start off very high, and just when you think they can't get higher, they do, and just when you think they've peaked, they haven't. This show made my stomach queasy from all of the tension, piling on more tension, misdirection, twists, and then finally, somehow relieved us of all of the tension in the most tension filled way possible. Like magic. In this play is the line, "Like my soul was wearing a body that was just a little too big." Masterclass on tension, action, and twists! Remarkable.

There is a lot to unpack here and Mattson does a wonderful job packing it into the show first so that Marie can unpack it all for the audience. It's hard to write about homelessness and Mattson creates art with messages. The playwright delivers comedy in his trademark way, quick wit, fast reactions, some physicality, but without poking fun at or romanticizing the situation. Mattson captures a piece of life, an important life, and delivers an important piece of art. Marie's monologue at the end reads like the closing argument in defense of the homeless. Excellent Show!

Fantastic little play from multiple perspectives including the baby. The comedy in this short play is fantastic and I would pay money to see the performer playing baby get thrown around by the invisible force. Mattson has built a play that grabs your attention, holds it, makes you laugh and smile all along the way, and then just as you think it's over, he throws in one last wrinkle. This has to be a must see.

Sometimes it's important to just go with what's inside the box, rather than looking outside the box. Robert Mattson does a brilliant job of bringing that point home with his go-with-what-we-know while exploring other options play about casting the dwarves, the actual dwarves, in Snow White. During this short, fantastic show, you meet three, uh, four(ish) dwarves who are all auditioning for the last dwarven role. Let the fun begin as Mattson's 10 pager is sure to bring a smile to your face.

Antogonism is a beautiful play with a wonderful message about how important it is to not let those that might piss in the pool take up real estate in your head and just move on to what you like. There's a bit of set-up and you want B,C, and D to retaliate, but instead are left completely satisfied with this quick show ends. Kudos Steven G. Martin!

Steve expertly plays with pull away tension and emotional tension in this short by powerful drama. The poignant nature of being in a wide-open space for the vulnerable Trystan and the sudden desperation as Trystan almost misses his chance to find help. Masterful!

Fantastic monologue that brings to light the negative in the world and how the right person or moment or whatever can help to turn your entire life around. Life is full of these moments and Vivian Lermond chooses the perfect moment to save a life. Although I’d want to learn more about what led Sophie to the group. The outcome is more than satisfying.

Vivian sprinkles a little irony here, pokes some fun over there, but then hits you square in the face with the reality of the play submission process and end result. Vivian Lermond does an amazing job of bringing the characters to life in such a short script. Bravo! Thank you for encapsulating this concept in a short ironic piece!

After this, I will never be able to wonder through the paint section of any store without thinking of this play. It's memorable and conceptually genius. Bruce Karp uses quick, natural dialogue to tell an imaginative behind-the-scenes look at naming paint. Well done, highly recommend!

Cole Hunter Dzubak's Tiger's Blood is screaming out loud to be made into a bigger script. Cole does a masterful job of hiding what's at stake through the imagery of drowning in dreams and then the tiger. It's so well done that I think there's an entire metaphorical universe waiting to be unlocked. Perhaps the genius in this piece is that Dzubak allows the audience to picture the unpictured, to imagine the unwritten. Then there's the heartfelt and heartbreaking monologue at the end. I WANT MORE! Fantastic play Cole!