Recommended by Dan West

There is something about teens and haunted houses. In Ryan Kaminski’s ten minute chiller, a high school filmmaker brings his potential new love interest to a local historical landmark - the 17th century home of teenage girl who was executed for witchcraft. The story twists and turns in ways you won’t expect before arriving at its truly jolting conclusion. An exceptional piece of short horror for the stage.

When the previous township supervisor resigns office early, naive and well-intentioned Kate gets cajoled into serving out the rest of their term only to find out that the town’s budget has been deleted and those that promised to help might not be as helpful as promised. Local governance might not be easy; but, in the hands of Kathy Rasmussen, it sure can be fun.

A loving and faithful son must deal with a bevy of emotions as he recounts to an unseen police officer the very moment that he discovered the body of his dear and recently departed mother. But is the story he is telling one of duty and devotion or are we bearing witness to something far more sinister. A gripping and suspense filled monologue.

A clever and exquisitely constructed pastiche of 1940s noir and 80s tackiness. In a world where disparate timestreams meet and incongruous characters crossover between eras, hard-boiled private eye Harvey Jacobson finds himself drawn into a case that could bring an end to him (but can't they all). Smartly written and always funny. If you produce one science-fiction time-travel noir this year, it should be this one.

A darkly comedic take on loneliness and the rise of AI. Adolescent Anna is at that point in life where she desperately needs advice from a close confidant or trusted mentor - and what she finds instead is WhitAI, an LLM that can mimic those roles but without actual thought or judgement. A power portent of things to come and struggles to be faced by our post-pandemic generations. Powerful, funny, and deeply human.

Danielle Wirsansky takes us deep inside a Vichy French interrogation room as British SOE agent Eileen Nearne attempts to evade the questions of her Nazi inquisitor. A taut and riveting true life historical thriller that will leave you hungry to learn the full story of this largely unkown WWII heroine

Fiancé find you boring? Maybe turning to crime is just the thing to bring a little spark back into your relationship. At least that’s protagonist Sean’s line of thinking in this clever rom-com send-up. Julie Brandon’s characters don’t always make the wisest choices here, but darn if it isn’t fun watching them make them. This is exactly what a 10-minute comedy is supposed to be.

What starts as a quick-witted comedic sci-fi farce about the perils of time travel (and billionaires), by its close, has transformed into bittersweet tale of love and affection between a husband and wife forced to make a choice that will change their lives forever. In the hands of another writer, this sort of transition like this might be too much to ask of an audience, but Paul Braverman pulls it off brilliantly. This really is a fantastic one act. Bravo.

In this short, speculative two-hander, there is a fine line between quantum mechanics and metaphysics. And scientist Maggie keeps hilariously crossing back and forth over that line - much to the chagrin of her lab partner Steve. In a world where every choice can create and destroy infinite universes, how can any of us be sure of anything? The only thing I am sure of right now is that Christopher Soucy’s “Dark Matter” sure has a good time exploring that question.

A 10-minute play about death that is touching and charmingly funny. A woman whose every aspect of life is touched by the deaths of those around her meets cute with a terminally ill cancer patient who has taken to cleaning the graves of those that have preceded them. Is this a match made in heaven or just a close encounter of the eerie kind? Perhaps we’ll find out if that can make it to the first date. Perse Grammer has delivered a noteworthy and production ready short play.