Recommended by Steven G. Martin

"Epitaph" is intense, thought-provoking, and dark. Carbajal again creates a standout 1-minute play.

Mary Sue Price beautifully builds tension in "That Midnight Rodeo;" an audience will immediately feel something unspoken is hanging heavy in the air.

Along with the tension, Price shares Cindy's history and her and Bo's current situation are shared, all of which impacts a decision that Cindy needs to make. Strong writing from Price here.

"Endangered Species" is a clever and pointed combination of fairy-tale tropes and modern sensibilities. There's plenty of laughs, but I also appreciate Aly Kantor's bittersweet ending, which suggest that times may change but some people may not be able to change with them.

Emily Hageman's highly enjoyable one-act comedy puts extraordinary people in one of the most banal situations. Those extremes lead to a lot of comedic moments that audiences will love.

Jillian Blevins has crafted a miracle of a play in "Mere Waters." Read it, produce it.

"Mere Waters" appeals to the heart and the mind, to emotion and intellect; it has a historic setting but speaks to contemporary concerns; there is dramatic irony that an audience will cringe about on first reference, but there are also surprises and unforeseen turns; the dialogue has brutal realism as well as otherworldly moments, but this is also a highly visual play.

Greg Vovos is running Mom and Dad, his characters in "Like a Baby," through the wringer. It feels like they quickly experience every variation of parental anxiety throughout this short comedy, and it's great fun to read. It would be a lot of fun to watch live on stage.

"Like a Baby" has visual humor, physical humor, and funny dialogue; this is a flat-out comedy audiences will love and long remember.

I love this comedy. Mark Harvey Levine has created a slippery reality in "Plato's Cave." It's fun to see Gary's adventures as he's tossed from different scenario to different scenario. It's also a bit frightening seeing how the light layer of reality is so easily and entirely burst.

This is very brisk, a bit philosophical, and very funny. Audiences loved a production of "Plato's Cave" during a production at Southbank Theatre in Indianapolis in May 2023. it was the perfect energetic, chaotic play to end Act I of an evening of shorts.

Vince Gatton breaks your heart showing how a woman named Katie struggles. Although what's true and what's false isn't explicitly clear at the start of "Ground Zero," Gatton provides clues so audiences will intuit Katie's actions and will understand her.

Gatton's skillful writing is enough to make "Ground Zero" a standout. But it's his humanity that makes it soar; his love for Katie, his insistence on hope make this a Must-Produce play.

Sensitive, gentle revelations; emotional resonance and resilience; an understated but clear theatricality; explorations of lies, truth, perspective, and personal history; hope. "Ground Hero" is a gift.

I'm crying after having read "Every, Every." Audiences will, too.

How is there so much vibrancy packed into a single 10-minute play? Greg Vovos shows the first spark of love, the despair during the aftermath of tragedy, magic theatricality, dramatic irony, the poetic/thoughtful dialogue found in Thornton Wilder's "Our Town," the blunt realistic dialogue of grief and loss. All of it woven together seamlessly, naturally as though it was always meant to be. And in Vovos' skilled hands, it is.

I'm crying after having read "Every, Every." You will, too.

Emily McClain is such a good playwright that I felt myself supporting both Kellie's and Sarah's sides at different times in this play. Is Kellie overreacting? Possibly. Is Sarah naïve? Possibly. As with any healthy relationship, there was a strong back-and-forth in communication, sometimes pushing the edge of civility but ultimately ending with a stronger understanding.

This is a relationship drama, but McClain adds depth: LGBTQIA couples shouldn't have to consider possible familial and societal pressures in everyday situations like planning a vacation destination. We want to live everyday life with none of those clouds overhead.

An intriguing portrait.