Recommended by Dan West

Although it is dressed up as a comedic take on AI dating, “Terms and Conditions” played more to me as an incisive treatise on objectification, consent, and the male gaze. Kyle is a man enmeshed with his technology, who summons from it his idealized mate only to discover that the same masculine hang-ups that undoubtedly impact his IRL relationships have followed him into his virtual one. A short AI comedy that may well leave you rooting for the AI. Well done.

No one knows what happened to Amelia Earhart after her plane disappeared over the waves of the Pacific Ocean, so we have no reason to doubt the veracity of this short, absurdist, historical docudrama. Ava Love Hannah’s deft takedown of masculine entitlement and the “sanctity” of all-male spaces is sure to leave you laughing. If you see just one “female historical icon trapped in the belly of a whale as a metaphor for the destructive nature of the patriarchy” play this year, let it be this one.

Art, at is best, serves as a mirror for society; reflecting back the complexities of the human experience, commenting on society, and leading us on a journey towards self discovery. Steven G. Martins short immersive play “An Appreciation” does all this and more in a mere 10-minutes. Bravo, sir. A trip to the gallery well spent.

Ever wonder what it might have been like to have been frozen in time by disaster like the residents of Pompeii? Or perhaps rediscovered approximately two millennia later? Well, I’ve got good news for you, dear reader. Thanks to Steven G. Martin’s brilliant short speculative play “Freeze”, you need wonder no longer. A splendid work of profound brevity to prove that we were not as primitive as they’ll think we were.

Grief is complex. It is a vessel containing a wide range of feelings - sadness, anger, guilt, relief, numbness, loss. But most of all it is heavy. Too heavy a burden to carry alone; and often too lonely a one to share. It’s a bear. One that stalks you, waiting for a moment of weakness. And Neil Radtke’s short play “Ignore the Random Bear” conveys what grief feels like just about as well as any piece I have read or seen. When words are not enough, sometimes what is needed is presence.

As the calendar approaches late fall in America, the common northern Snowbird begins its annual descent upon Miami. This year, Carole Osborne’s migration lands her at her usual roost only to find an unexpected British Tourist, a cop, and her son entangled in some sort of housing arrangement she can’t quite suss out. Hilarity ensues as Carole tries to work out exactly who is cohabiting with whom in time to be ready for Thanksgiving dinner. A wickedly fun satire of 21st century mores and manners.

We live in a world where the political stakes have never been higher. But, in order to make a difference, you have to win your election. In Eric Goudie’s sharp political comedy “Shackled to a Corpse, a candidate for office is asked by a consultant how much they are willing to do to effect a change. Maybe it’s time that we start asking that question of ourselves as well - and at what cost. An incisive and compelling 10-minute satire.

Three ambitious drag queens convene at the funeral of their iconic mentor to determine which up them shall be chosen to don her mantle and continue her legacy. As each of the trio battle to state their case and to achieve dominance and supremacy over there rivals, they all seem to forget that they are not the only ones in the room. And when things start to get a bit meta, all bets are off. A flamboyantly campy and downright funny short play.

It’s not easy shopping for just the right hat. Especially when it is cold outside and one deserves the very best. In Liam Happe’s absurdist satire “The Hat”, a shopper is search of just the right lid finds that their available options bring little more than increasing pain and misery. And the sales person, though seeming well intentioned (or not), offers little in the way of relief or succor. A darkly engaging short comedy.

Abstract/non-representative art is not for everyone. It forces you to draw meaning from shape and color rather than form. When college student Paige finds herself locked in her university's gallery afterhours with a man who appears to be far outside of his natural habitat, her first inclination is to try to help him "understand" what he seems to be missing - only to discover that some are searching for answers that lie beyond acrylic on canvas. A gently profound short play about regret and loss.