Recommended by John David Westby

A comedy about love, loss, and absurd honesty that seems to break out when two characters of a certain life experience meet at a speed dating event. Rapid-fire dialogue ricochets from outrageous humor to genuine tenderness, revealing two people who discover that even after deep loss, connection might still be possible.

A thoughtful and tender exchange between siblings that uses science as a bridge to empathy. Grogan weaves ideas about light and perception into a quietly moving story about difference, understanding, and the ways families learn to see each other more clearly

This short play offers a tense and morally thorny encounter between an elderly driver and a weary police officer. At first it seems to play on the dotty old woman driver motif and then it springs a change and transforms into a provocative meditation on justice, grief, and revenge. A deceptively simple two-hander with a sharp ethical edge.

This play is a clever, charming comedy about modern dating. By theatricalizing the characters’ inner voices with their own on stage characters, Ana Guigui captures the funny tug-of-war between caution and hope that happens inside all of us. Three words: Warm, witty, and sweet.

Bold, funny, and unexpectedly moving, Black Jesus imagines a young man’s encounter with the divine at the proverbial gates. The play blends humor, faith, and social commentary into a playful and very thoughtful meditation on belief, identity, getting a second chance.

This is one sharp, funny, and quietly empowering play. In a basement a self-defense lesson turns into a story about voice, agency, and reclaiming yourself. Something larger and unexpected. The dialogue crackles with Lynn's humor while the emotional punches land just as cleanly.

This mature, well written gem of a short play brings together humor and today's existential fear of "who's there" and will we ever be safe. The two characters refracts the pain of those who have been chased and hunted into a quiet gentle Halloween night. As others have said it will keep you thinking for a long time. Winner of the 2025 National Gary Garrison Award for 10-minute plays.

"Fan Fiction" deals with growing up, finally and maybe forever. As a young woman prepares for a future in college, packing and planning, her inner fantasy life must be put aside and left behind. A poignant and funny play with great dialogue and distinct characters.

The taught dialogue builds the subtext and the tension in this 3person play told in short high stakes scenes. The twists and turns as the well-developed characters take on the "past" and truth keep you reading/watching. The twist ending comes at you like a punch to the gut.

Told with biting wit this odyssey of a divorce envisions our 40-something heroine, returned from the marriage wars, desperate to find home again but reduced to couch surfing and imposing on the beneficence of friends - or are they frenemies? This story strikes the right notes of mid life divorce and being suddenly on your own. Would be great for a festival or season of plays by women about women in various life stages.