Recommended by Steven G. Martin

It may be natural to look forward to the future, to anticipate the changes that may happen in our lives, but Houg's gentle, fantasy-comedy reminds us that living fully in the moment is the most important thing. Nicely drawn characters and a lovely theme.

There is no glow like post-coital glow, and Weaver's Young Man character is positively radiant. The character is so earnest, direct and guileless that this play might have become unnerving for the audience or unfocused for the actor. But Weaver wisely creates a structure that not only supports Young Man's introduction into new worlds of carnal and gastronomic delights, but also provides a natural beginning, middle and end. An endearing play.

A coming-of-age domestic drama, a life-or-death battle with the supernatural, and the groan-worthiest pun in the history of Western Civilization.

Partain's "Immortal Combat" may be the most eye-bulging, pulse-quickening, OMG-mouth-dropping, fun and theatrical one-minute play ever. Loud, raucous, silly with just enough of a bittersweet core to add depth. And the groan-worthiest pun in the history of Western Civilization to top it off. Sit back, brace yourself, and enjoy.

Timms uses emotion, rhythm and history-building to create a complex character in their monologue about mourning. A young man attends the funeral of a former friend now "in the background" of his life. Timms doesn't brush aside emotions or default into "courageous, bright-side-of-life" mode. Instead, they provide Young Man the opportunity to express a mixture of genuine grief, regret and guilt. This is a humane portrait of a man in mourning.

Sometimes when loved ones die, we don't have the opportunity to be with them, to speak to them and that can be rough. Sometimes we can be around our loved ones when they die, and -- as Brian James Polak shows in this short drama -- that can be worse. These characters don't exist in the vacuum of the moment, Polak endows them with a history that affects their choices in the present. That's a treat for audiences and actors alike.

Canfield's short comedy is a witty re-imagining of the Greek Fates in a thoroughly modern domestic setting. There's plenty of action, a nice use of props and three well-defined characters in this winning script.

This comic short play excels because of Canfield's gift at creating contrasting characters. Actors will love performing the roles of Fish and Cat, who have vastly different world views. This is a lively, lovely light comedy. Produce it!

In this one-minute drama, Villanueva succinctly shows through dialogue and action how a single problem can lead to a cycle that pulls a person away from their American Dream.

Thank you Melisa Tien for your empathetic soul, your humane heart. For writing about Boyd, one of the invisible in the United States, one who slips between the cracks. For showing his humanity rather than ignoring him, even when it feels he is succumbing to the problems associated with being poor in America. "The Boyd Show" is not politics, it is not a hot-button topic. It is humanity, age 11-22, in tour de force mode.

Gerardo has built a complex, futuristic world with its own history and rules in "Kith and Tell." It nicely plays into the tension of boyfriend-meets-girlfriend's-parents/fish-out-of-water scenarios. A really elegant touch is that Gerardo doesn't fully explain what led to what seems to be apocalyptic situations as tensions ebb and flow. "Kith and Tell" is wonderful science fiction, satire, dark comedy and mystery at its core.