Recommended by Sam Heyman

The characters in this play may claim not to be political, but "The Believers Market" (note the lack of apostrophe) is a play with something to say, and it gets its point across in a chilling and effective way. Playwright Hilary Bluestein-Lyons has conceived a dark holiday-season satire on the level of the Twilight Zone and The Lottery.

Brent Alles wears his influences on his sleeve in this fantastic homage to 1940s American comics and culture. The Princess and the Pinup favorably calls to mind “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay” with its weaving of history, queerness, comic books, and the vital, aspirational project of being an artist. The Playwrights Thriving Reading Series was proud to present Alles’ work in its 2025 season of programming. I can’t wait to see the heights to which this play will soar.

The power of this play lies, not only in Ferguson’s specific setting and rich dialogue, but in how even with a period setting, it’s characters and circumstances resonate strongly (and sadly) with today. Women of different generations contend with patriarchy in different ways, and this play demonstrates that solidarity between women is not easily won. Excellent and resonant short.

I love the way Kyle Walker plays with audience expectations, in many of his plays but especially in "A Vampire's Reflection." The genre savviness displayed by the play's main vamp is in service to a delicious comedic twist that is so clever, it needs to be seen to be believed. This is a hilarious take on the vampire myth that is sure to please short play festival audiences.

Traditional gender roles can be restrictive for those who adopt them — and they can be lethal weapons to those who enforce them. Bethany Dickens Assaf has devised a monologue play that is active, layered, and chilling to the last. Playhouse provides worthy challenges to actors and designers alike - an exceptional short!

Sickles serves up a witty, banter-filled feast of a ten minute play in HIBERNATION. Small-town melancholy, acerbic jabs and a deeply human core coalesce and create a short that will stay with you long after the curtain falls. I loved seeing this play read at the 2025 Midwest Dramatists Conference and I feel confident it will find more audiences soon.

As the saying goes, men would rather devise an elaborate sci fi performance piece about their failed marriage than go to therapy — in INTERPLANETARY PAUL’S DIVORCE
SPECTACULAR, Marshall Logan Gibbs takes one man-child’s extremely public and theatrical meltdown and turns it into a refreshingly honest, heartfelt, and hilarious short romp. I loved seeing a reading of this play at the Midwest Dramatists Conference, and I’m sure audiences will too!

Age of Chimes is a sublimely moving play that uses its theatricality to reveal nuance that might otherwise not rise to the surface of its central characters, even on a third date. I saw a reading of this play at the Midwest Dramatists Conference and I was thoroughly impressed by the plays puzzling premise and Elana Gartner’s excellent execution of the play’s conceit. Lovely.

Danielle Wirsansky is a playwright who is dedicated to using her scholarship for good, and frequently deploys her skills in the service of evocative, vital storytelling. Help Me/Shoot Me is a historical play, but like many fine histories, it echoes forward into the present moment, begging us to consider the courage necessary to be "on the right side of history". An excellently rich short.

In We'd Rather Know If You Weren't Coming back, Dave Osmundsen writes a compelling and thematically rich companion piece to his brilliant The Wonderful Out There. Osmundsen has much to say about the role of a storyteller and how stories can be shaped by those who tell them as much as their subject matter. Nuanced representation of grief, queerness, and neurodiversity define this promising script. Haunting and healing.