Recommended by Sam Heyman

10/1/24: It's a wonder when comic book nerds and classical theatre nerds inhabit the same mind - Greg Lam has created a masterful short. The Shakespeare-verse is full of bleak endings, but what if one could jump the tracks of one's pre-written circumstances and circumvent the Bard's plans? "Juliet's Post Credits Scene" imagines a compelling what-if with pitch-perfect emulation of Shakespearean cadence, and plenty of humor to match. An excellent addition to any short play festival!

10/1/24: A haunting, theatrical examination of the collective tragedy of our time: the seemingly unending rise of school gun violence. Jessie Salsbury's tense two-hander captivated the audience of the Midwest Dramatists Conference and is sure to leave audiences across the country momentarily speechless... before they erupt into conversation about this thought provoking short. Beautiful, chilling work.

10/1/24: The Coat with the Silver Lining was one of the standout comedies I saw presented at the Midwest Dramatists Conference. Alison Reeger Cook assembles a perfect odd-couple of coworkers and utilizes marvelous literal metaphors to tell a story that is both whimsical, sweet, and relatable to many. A laugh-out-loud short with very few lulls in the action, perfect for any ten minute play festival.

9/30/24: Geminids caught me by total surprise at the Midwest Dramatists Conference this year, and it gives me confidence that Andra Hunter is a playwright to watch. Meditating on wishes and desires with a gorgeous meteor shower backdrop, this short play moved me to (sad, then happy, then happy-sad) tears with its poignant and thoughtful drama. Do yourself a favor and read this play!

9/30/24: This play is a dream! (Sorry, Brent.) I love the range of characters in this play from Brent Alles, a lovely adaptation of the classic Little Nemo comics. There’s wordplay-a-plenty, and just as much imagination. I could envision this as an excellent play for educational institutions and youth oriented theatre camps. Excellent work!

The Waiting Room is a heartfelt and humorous short about two very different women, one of whom yearns for connection, while the other yearns for silence (and maybe some good fertility news.) Or are they so different? Alli Hartley-Kong's characters break taboos and threaten to disrupt the discourse surrounding women's reproductive health in beautiful, hilarious ways. I saw a reading of this play at the 2024 Midwest Dramatists' Conference and was thoroughly entertained. (9/29/24)

Kelly McBurnette-Andronicos’ Most Outstanding Minority Girl lets the audience be a fly on the wall during an absurdly hilarious faculty meeting, a scenario the playwright navigates with deft comic craft and far more self awareness than the characters possess. I was in awe of this play’s joke density and how many punchlines it fit into ten minutes. Bravo, playwright! (9/28/24)

Sarah Jae Leiber is a playwright whose plays remind you that plays are also poetry, and poetry has the power to wrest long suppressed emotion from the depths of one’s heart. With “river phoenix fugue”, she assembles a chorus of witnesses to the late actor’s most idiosyncratic cinematic outing, and makes us all witnesses to the ‘emotionally complicated’ boy who wanted so much to be good, and only had a relative few precious years to be so. Prepare to cry. Revel in being mystified. Read this play.

A box-shy feline considers a suspicious object, an uninterrogated fear or perhaps a repressed temptation… will he take the plunge? The Cat In The Box is a delightful and insightful monologue, perfect for any cat lover in the audience. (9/23/24)

Nora Louise Syran is an artist’s artist, and a storyteller’s storyteller. With trademark historical rigor and impeccable craft, Syran adds GOODFELLOW, ROBIN HOOD to the canon of stories about the famed charming rogue, while also engaging powerfully with questions all writers must engage with: why do we tell (and retell) stories? How can stories—folkloric, fictional, and otherwise—help us deal with our present challenges and imagine future solutions? Read this play, and find out. Excellent work!