Recommended by Dan West

Muses can be fickle things. Showing up and their own schedule and never when you need their divine creative spark the most. Shirtless young hunks on the other hand, will never let you down. At least according to this hilarious short play by Donald Baker, they won’t. When inspiration collides with infatuation there can only be one winner; and, in this case, it’s the audience.

Resting in Peace ain’t easy when you a ghost in a busy Roman tourist motel. Especially when it’s one frequented by spoiled foreign high school students on expensive class trips and their harried (yet progressively minded) chaperones. A fun and esoteric ten minute ghost story.

There is a lot to unpack here. Girlypop True Crime podcaster Lucy has fled to a seedy Pittsburgh motel ostensibly for content purposes, but really to escape her attentively dominating boyfriend and make a bodily choice of which he (and the sponsors) would certainly not approve. While there she encounters the mythical child slayer Medea, who encourages to take control of her own life - and perhaps take the lives of those that stand in her way. Be prepared to get punched in the gut more than once. And to like it. Powerful stuff here.

Demeter and Persephone meet Patty Hearst. With a structure paralleling the Ancient Greek Eleusinian Mystery on the creation of the seasons, Scott Sickles had crafted an ingenious indictment of the 21-Century corporate oligarchy and addressing the power that that we have given the upper castes to assert control of the lives of us all. A cautionary tale that, while set in the near future, makes a compelling case for the preventive actions we must take today.

I am always amazed at how much story some writers can fit into a ten-minute framework. Jacquelyn Floyd-Priskorn begins her play “Cake” in the aftermath of a public food fight between two men; and, by the time she wraps things up, you will not only swear you were there, but you’ll may be ready sit down and share a slice of cake at them yourself. What starts as a comedic party that has grown out of hand finishes as a poignant tale of loss and friendship. This truly is a Cake of many layers.

Set in post civil war Tennessee, a devoted husband and faithful wife must balance the tenets of faith vs. science in deciding how to best treat their mysteriously ill and quickly fading daughter. William entrusts his beliefs or his old friend, a civil war medic, while Didi relies on the religious wisdom of their younger Methodist minister. This ideological stalemate is upset by the arrival of a new physician offering a revolutionary new treatment. But will this be the panacea they they have been waiting for or a recipe for disaster. A tighten written and intriguing historical thriller.

A Tale of Two Stand-Ups. Jackie is an aging borscht belt comic who is feeling his mortality and seeking to pass on the legacy he never quite established. Jennifer is more worried about impressing the scout from SNL who is rumored to be in attendance. Will either of them find their peace before it is time for Jennifer or go onstage? A profoundly humorous and heartfelt piece about the business of comedy, unrealized dreams, and redemption.

A elderly man, Elton, gleefully torments his son-in-law Marcus on the drive to the former’s surprise birthday party. But is he just doing it to be a curmudgeon or is there some deeper purpose to his antics. This ten minute piece is both funny and heartfelt, and would definitely be a fine addition to any ten-minute festival or evening of one-acts. The character of Elton, in particular, is certain to be a crowd pleaser.

As a parent to (and advocate for) individuals with disabilities (including autism), plays that feature sensitive and thoughtful representation have particular appeal to me. And when the representation is as organic and well portrayed as by Christopher Plumridge in this short, but gripping, post-apocalyptic thriller, it is sure to earn my highest recommendation. This fantastic science-fiction/horror hybrid is perfectly suited for both radio and stage.

Ken Love is a master of carefully taking his characters all the way to the edge - and then pushing them right off. In this psychologically harrowing short monologue, an agonized man must come to terms with the passing of mother and the pain that she herself has come back from the edge to inflict upon him. This one cuts on a whole different level and will surely impact anyone that has had a front row seat for the death of an aging parent.