Recommended by Dan West

Jack needs to write his play, but nothing’s coming. Solution: invite over a talking monkey and a talking horse to work the story out, of course. As the three friends try to kick Jack’s creative process into gear, things go from zany to absurd as the critter from our writer’s imagination quite literally take the strings to guide our story to it’s surprising and satisfying conclusion. This is the sort of “Writers’ Play” that all audiences will love.

Braving sub-zero temperatures at a rooftop New Years Party is a bold endeavor. And so is writing a ten character ten-minute play. Matthew Weaver is up to the task though in the fun short romp that feature relationship old and new, both coming together and falling apart, on one city roof, one January 1st. You can almost feel the chilly air yourself. Extreme cold has never been this fun.

It’s all about the subtext in this taut ten-minute drama by Marshall Logan Gibbs. An elderly, West Virginia couple is sitting on their porch enjoying their summer beverages and reminiscing about childhood pastimes when a desperately lost young man arrives at their home seeking help as he flees away from one life and towards another. What starts as cautious altruism erupts into a violent and befuddling conclusion. Astute audiences will find themselves rewards by this subtle, yet brutal, short play.

A couple on the run taking shelter from the rain in a ripped from the headlines story of forbidden love in the age of ICE. In this intriguingly political but never didactic short play, Brian Cern subverts our expectations and delivers a sharply honed conclusion that will leave you staggered. I like to think of myself as a pretty canny reader, but this one caught me by surprise. Well done.

When off-beat substitute teacher Mr. Kultura first steps in front of today’s assigned charges, it seems like we are being setup for a blood in the water moment with the classroom eating him alive. But instead what we get is Thal and Kultura turning the tables on all of us for a hilarious indictment of corporate crowdsourcing as a component of late stage capitalism. If all lessons on economics were this engaging, we might all have a better understanding of why things are the way they are in the world we live in.

Does death bring closure to the dead? That is the question being asked in Jonny Bolduc’s short but powerful play, FAMILY. A middle aged writer calls back his parents from beyond the grave to revisit the family tragedy that tore them apart and that none of them has yet been able to process. But are any of them even now ready to accept the roles that they may or may not have had in bringing it about? The ghost tale will continue to haunt you long after you leave the theater.

A superhero story where the hero’s secret identity is the one that actually ends up saving the day. When the Good Prowler’s day job interferes with his ability to rescue the victims of a building collapse, it is up to city desk reporter Josh Watkins to battle company bureaucracy, the mayor’s office, and work-life-balance to make sure that justice is served. A terrifically written ensemble piece the delivers on every level. Sometimes the true heroes are the people beneath the masks.

Relationships are fragile things. Particularly in the early stages of their forging, before they have been molded into their final shape and set to harden. Lily is in just such an early relationship, full of promise and apparent compatibility, when her new partner brings up the topic of safe words - sending the sexually conservative Lily out of balance and reeling, and in need of some friendly wise counsel. Paul Donnelly’s direct and unreserved handling of this sensitive topic make this short two-hander one well worth producing.

Black Friday midnight sales bring out all kinds. David is a faith filled man looking to get a doorbuster deal on an engagement ring for his love. Ricky is down on his luck and in need of quick cash. A chance encounter in a shopping mall parking lot (along with a bit of supernatural intercession) leads to life changing consequences for both men. A chilling take on a chilly night that profoundly illustrates why the interactions that should bind us so often drive us apart.

Amphibia, the villainous Bullfrog Queen of Crime, is out to kill the heroic Dung Beetle-Man hoping that she can heal the hole left in soul due to the recent death of her father by doing the one thing that he was never able to accomplish. And she succeed over and over again, almost finding love and understanding along the way. But in the end, se discovers that reaching an external goal does not always soothe ones internal pains. A broadly comedic and crafty two-hander that, like it's protagonist, is deeper than it seems at first glance.