Recommended by Dan West

At some point in the near future - after the bees are gone - a grandmother and grandchild work to rebuild a relationship they never had; acknowledging their differences and reconciling their similarities all while attempting to avoid the fact that time is running out on all of us. Aly Kantor was crafted a touchingly funny and all to human drama of real complexity and depth that works on many different levels. A stunningly written neo-dystopian two-hander.

Dr. Diogenes Hart is a man of accomplishment, purpose, and standing; until he discovers that he has lost his astrological sign and the cosmic destiny that comes along with it. What follows is a surreal and wildly funny metaphysical quest to fill the hole in his soul left by that loss. With a cast of five playing a full ensemble of over-the-top characters, Hampsch has populated his world with the sort of residents that actors would love to play and that audiences will hold onto long after lights fade to black.

A haunting re-imaging of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” that asks what might Scrooge’s and Cratchit’s Christmas future look like if the ghosts had not had their impact many years earlier. Barry Wallace has a real ear for Dickensian dialogue and does a great job achieving in ten short minutes a piece of real depth and pathos. This should definitely be considered for any holiday short works festival.

The train is waiting at the platform and Hilda must make a decision, the man who wants to take her away to a better life or the library to which she has dedicated hers. And it is not an easy choice… or is it? Julie Brandon’s very short, over-the-top “comedic melodrama” is both fun and surprising.

A surreal dream of standing before the Gates of Hell leads Andrew to reevaluate his life and how he has been living it - and to finally do something about it. The choices we all make in life lead us down certain paths, right or wrong. When is too late for us to retrace our steps and try to rectify some of those that we regret? Bruce Karp’s tightly written short comedy deftly travels these paths with humor and aplomb.

It is refreshing to be reminded that message plays do not need to be preachy and didactic, because the short comedy about the dangers of climate change featuring an angel, an alien, and a disturbingly 21st Century Wisconsinite is anything but. It is a true gift to be able to make you audiences bust a gut laughing while at the same time driving it home that our very own behavior is likely leading us to our doom. Well played, Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend.

What a fun (dare I say George Sauders-esque) short play. Maddie is a sharp-witted teenager traveling alone between separated parents along old Route 66. Rick is a curmudgeonly security guard carrying on the three generation family tradition of guarding a large boulder (not a rock) as part of a roadside attraction on a bypassed section of the road. When the two meet head-on, memorable things are bound to happen. And I am just glad that I got to witness them myself.

Medusa has always been one of the most interesting and compelling figures in mythology. Both victim and monster, predator and prey. In Nora Louise Syran’s layered and rhapsodic 10-minute monologue, the legendary gorgon would like nothing more than to enjoy one last glass of wine before yet another questing hero arrives to either take her head or be petrified in the attempt. A fantastic character study of a woman frozen in time and preparing to meet her fate.

A nameless mortician laments the pending losses of both his family business and his marriage, when the young Jane Doe that he is about to cremate rises from the coffin and addresses him. Death is certainly in the air, but whose death exactly is still up in the air. Creepy and ghoulish - in the best way possible.

It wasn’t easy being Asian in America during World War II. And when you’re Hazel Ying Lee and you’re Asian and female and a pilot in the Women’s Airforce Service Pilot program and your plane just went down in a patch of rural farmland, things get even tougher. This short historical play tells Lee’s story with both humor and aplomb. And it’s timely too.