Recommended by Steven G. Martin

This dark comedy has plenty of funny moments -- there's a pleasant joke at Robert Downey Jr.'s expense -- but it is solidly embedded in a Kafkaesque nightmare that offers no escape.

Jonathan Cook's premise in "Transferring Kyle" is bound to make audiences think about their own lives, or perhaps their lack of living life. The audience is going to feel a lot of sympathy for Kyle, and because of the rules Cook has created in this universe, may wonder about what their own futures hold.

"Transferring Kyle" justifiably has a long, rich production history, which should grow.

Desperate times call for desperate measures (it's been three years!), so Maria has made her choice.

Scott Mullen's romantic, farcical play "Coaster" provides a lot of opportunity for physical and vocal comedy as the two protagonists go screaming through the play and the roller coaster ride. There also is a genuine chemistry between Maria and Paul, and the ending is genuinely touching.

I watched a terrific virtual production of "Coaster" in May 2021 during Winding Road Theater Ensemble's "Eight 10s in Tucson."

This short play is a perfect blend of romance, science fiction, and even philosophy.

Ken Preuss should be recognized for his imagination about technical innovation -- and the invention of the Bliss-Band in "The Elusive Pursuit of Maximum Bliss" is a wonderful feat. But what powers this short play are the tried-and-true combination of character and need. Max and Elle complement one another as they react and counter-react to one another.

The theme of finding lasting love is the subject of many a fine play. "The Elusive Pursuit of Maximum Bliss" is an excellent example and should be produced often.

This short play is meant for Zoom or other virtual platforms. Robert Weibezahl makes the most of virtual platforms' features to create moments of intimacy, emphasize feelings of anger, and show new realities of what it means to gather.

But it isn't just the virtual platform that makes "Recipe" a strong play. Weibezahl creates distinctive character voices among this cast of five. The dialogue is excellent and the conflicts include both timeless and contemporary ones.

I watched a terrific production during Winding Road Theater Ensemble's "Eight 10s in Tucson" in 2021.

Never argue with a five-year-old holding a plunger.

"Gotta Go" is a brisk, quick, one-minute comedy that audiences will love. Well done, Mica Pointer!

This is a gleefully sadistic farce about workplaces and the people who survive them.

Catherine Castellani captures the maniacal (yet oddly fragile) egos of those in charge, the chameleon-like ability of their more collected underlings to do a myriad of tasks, the fake fakery of niceties so easily wiped away, and the desperation to leave.

"Work" is a wonderful comic farce that audiences will cheer.

Absolutely effervescent -- the comic dialogue in this 10-minute play is like little bubbles rising to the surface of a liquid and bursting with joy.

Mark Harvey Levine has written a dashing comedy filled with humorous conflict that just grows and moves quicker each minute it goes. "Misfortune" is a wonderfully quick and easy read, and it would be an absolute laugh riot on the stage.

"Misfortune" is very deserving of its long, rich, and varied production and award history.

This 10-minute comedy is based on a terrific comic premise, that of a lie that has gone unchecked for so long it has grown to astronomical proportions.

Lisa Dellagiarino Fereind has created the ultimate impending doom for Joe, whose flipping and flapping -- courtesy of Kellogg's, thank you corporate enablers! -- continually grow more frantic. But I especially loved a moment toward the end of "To the Moon!" when Joe's fears are dissolved away ... before Dellagiarino Fereind ends with a gleeful comic button.

An adrenalin-filled jolt of a short play. Highly focused, exciting, filled with tension, and more than a dollop of dark humor.

Max Henry has created a terrific, action-packed adventure in "Clay Pigeons." Actors, fight choreographers, and directors will enjoy telling this tale.

Dark and dense -- there's a lot happening in this intermission-free, full-length play.

DC Cathro ratchets up the tension beginning with the first beat of "Itch," and he focuses it all on a single character and a single trait. It's remarkable just how much attention he pays to Richard and his condition, and the variety of ways other characters respond to it.