Recommended by Matthew Weaver

Goldman-Sherman is a national treasure, and this lovely, foreboding one-act carries both her signature wry wit and a winter's chill at how the future is? could be? is hurtling towards us like a runaway train? The setting is amazing, funny, natural and a warning cry to all. Her writing is always bold, fearless, haunting and unflinching; TOUR is a remarkable addition to her oeuvre.

A whirlwind portrait of the end of the love story between a man and his sock monkey. Carnes gets absolute credit for dropping us right into the scenario and never pausing to let the audience catch up. Hell, even poor blindsided Billie's trying to keep up, but Minky is the leader of this whole story. How can anyone possibly compete with Minky's new love - but especially Billie? All of we in the audience who have seen a love affair come to a sad end will lock eyes and nod knowingly. Absurd, yes, but also so, so, real.

You may stop writing 10-minute plays now. For Tristen Canfield has written the perfect 10-minute play, bar none. I first had the pleasure of watching this during Spokane Civic Theatre's Playwrights Forum Festival in 2015 and I haven't shut up about it since. It's a heartfelt commentary on the nature of humanity from two souls perhaps best poised to reflect upon it - a fish and a cat in a window - and it's damn hilarious, poignant, insightful and wonderful. I'm so glad to see it here on NPX, so that you too, Fellow Playwright, can rejoice in its existence.

I second Bruce Bonafede's "evil genius who worships at the altar of Satan" remark in his recommendation! Sickles takes a wickedly funny, darkly true look at grieving and comes up with hilarity. We can certainly relate to Sarah and Elliot's loss, but also their wry disdain for the trappings that come with funeral proceedings. Sickles' writing would be a wonderful, welcome addition to any festival, unless it's a festival for plays that are unfun and on their best behavior. Pitch black and pitch perfect.

I had the pleasure of originally reading this as part of the Trade a Play Tuesday program and am delighted to see it here. Quite possibly one of the best short plays on NPX, and a great showcase for two performers to play a mother-daughter team. Foster (and mother Izzy) sets the audience (and poor Karla) on constantly shifting sands, to hilarious and hysterical effect, and offers a master class in doing a lot with very little and making it look effortless. A pitch-perfect ending. I remain haunted by Izzy's lesson that carrots are still alive when you eat them.

YAY! I LOVE Carbajal's approach to playwriting in this fashion! (Although when he uses his own words the result is just as good, so this just goes to show he has a good eye for recognizing quality dialogue no matter where it lies.) Here is the tale of residents in North New Jersey holding their hearts out for the world to see, and Carbajal captures it and delivers a stirring, moving rendition. Essentially, he sets it to music. We often say, "I would watch so-and-so read the phone book." In Carbajal's capable hands, the phone book would make us cry.

CRINGING in self-awareness and hugging my mom TODAY; Goldman-Sherman portrays an all-too familiar domestic scene in which the emotional stakes are sky-high. Like of all her words, all of her works, this is funny, provocative, bold and true. Wives and mothers in the audience will applaud and shake their heads knowingly; husbands and sons will flinch - and gasp at the father and son's audacity to demand an apology from the Mother character. Good art changes the audience and prompts heated conversation; TOILET PAPER is certain to do both. Produce this play yesterday.

If you haven't partaken of Yancey's one-word classics, they are a treat and this is a good place to start. Dickens himself would be proud. I particularly liked this glimpse into Belle's family, and of course Scrooge's back and forth with the Christmas ghosts always delight. Yancey makes it look deceptively easy but don't be fooled, it's HARD selecting the exactly right single word at a time to convey the spirit of a timeless story, move the plot forward and still have the entire project feel fresh and vibrant. Yancey is just the man for the undertaking.

A new Goldman-Sherman work is something to celebrate and to be celebrated, and this is no exception. A window onto the warts and all truth for some of us, an open door and sheer, stark, recitation of fact for the rest of us. She is so good at what she does, never flinching from the/her/the truth, and always finding new, simple, complex ways to break our hearts and, again, this is no exception. A playwright who finds the words that need to be spoken, words that cry to be heard. This is no exception; Goldman-Sherman is exceptional.

A lovely, loving, heartfelt offering. I waaaay relate to Eddie and his tendency to spiral into self-doubt and questions of self-worth, just as I think many of us in the audience will. May we all find our Richard, calm and sensible, even though his farts smell like a vegetarian's farts. These two men know each other in the most profound ways two people can know one another. Martin shows us both sides of the coupling, and shows us why they strike just the perfect balance.