Recommended by Jennifer O'Grady

Lovely, poignant, heartbreaking--in just a couple of pages, Carnes handles the urgent issue of gun control with great delicacy underscored by powerful emotional content. This play lingered long after I stopped reading.

Another terrific monologue from Asher Wyndham. I love Shannon's voice, which sounds so perfect for her age, and what she wants from her mom is heartbreaking and all too realistic, making this monologue feel very relevant today. This would be a joy to perform. Anyone seeking monologues (of all kinds!) should be reading Asher Wyndham's work.

A lovely short play about Frankenstein author Mary Shelley after the death of her poet-husband as she sails home to England without him and with their four-year-old son, who doesn't yet understand the magnitude of their loss. In just a couple of pages Carnes has captured every mother's struggle--how do we hold onto ourselves while caring for those who will need us more than we ever expected?--with poignancy and wit, making this play feel very relevant today.

A powerful short play about enforced female silence and the struggle not to be silent. With crisp spare dialogue Lawing transports us to a different time and era, but shows us characters whose struggles are still very relevant--and heartbreaking--today.

Like others I had a visceral reaction to this very brave monologue that speaks for just so many of us. Would be amazing in performance.

A timely play that reveals what's really going on in the mind of that creepy staring person at the bus stop, or pretty much anywhere a woman has ever been. Multiple staging possibilities and great roles for actors.

Truthful and moving and realistic and with so much going on beneath the surface. I love the mother/daughter relationship and the theme of opioid addiction is handled so skillfully and believably by Hageman that I felt like I was right there with these characters as they struggle with their unspoken tragedy. A wonderful short play with two terrific roles for female actors.

A stunning play and the fact that it's just two characters shows the extent of Femia's skills and talent as a playwright. I hope to see it produced someday.

A lot is packed into this short play about mother-daughter relationships and how we parents sometimes want things so badly for our kids that we can't always see what THEY want. Would make a great addition to a holiday-themed play fest.

The Nativity story translated into contemporary dialogue and with a really angry Joe who can't get a room at the hotel for his pregnant wife. Brilliant and so funny.