Recommended by Steven G. Martin

This audacious 10-minute comedy keeps marching toward moments that are more unusual and shocking, yet also inevitable, than those that preceded them.

Maximillian Gill doesn't just present workplace wish fulfillment in "Stick." The consequences and counter-consequences are just as integral to the story. And audiences are going to remember them for a long, long time.

This one-minute play would be terrific for actors. There is so much story told physically, wordlessly in "Gratitude 31." Prillaman also gives a view of contrasting characters for an audience to enjoy.

This isn't a play about conflict, but rather kindness. It's a moment that surely happens hundreds of time each day worldwide, but isolating the action heightens it and make it feel grander.

The satire of this one-minute play starts in the listing of the setting, even before we meet the characters. Everything you need to know about the tone can be found in "Time: the present, unfortunately."

Adam Richter batters audiences and readers with absolute precision and objectivity. That Noah and Chloe have difficulty remembering one traumatic incident from another is darkly comic -- like 12:01 am in the deepest cave in America dark -- and also sharp commentary about where American life now seems to center.

Brilliant, heartbreaking, clawing work in a single minute.

Harrison Young uses heightened language -- wordplay and rhyme, namely -- to wonderful effect in this one-act comedy set during a police interrogation.

Audiences will sit forward in their seats to listen to "Alaskan Assassins." The dialogue will be a good challenge for actors, and the payoff at the end would be incredible. This play is a blueprint on how to achieve a standing ovation every night.

Credit Harrison Young for his wit and a hint braggadocio (hell, I would be proud too!) -- this is a high-wire act done with aplomb.

In this short, very comic monologue, an anxious mind speeds through several subjects when pondering how to fall in love within the time parameters set by dating apps.

I laughed out loud several times reading "Cheese Sauce." Cora Frank leads readers and audiences through a path of highly varied non sequiturs that spin wildly out of a tortured mind. But for as funny as this monologue is, Frank has placed a bitter core at its center: sometimes people will work themselves up into a debilitating frenzy when faced with the unknown.

This a terrific monologue that should be produced often.

If "Animal Kingdom" is an unproducible play -- with its emotional core, its imaginative 'what if?' scenario, its gargantuan scope, and its soothing condolences to those in need -- then I don't want to read plays that are.

Thank you, Matthew Weaver, showing that we're interconnected especially during those times when grief could lead us to feel that we aren't.

This one-minute satire is sharp and efficient, noting how contemporary interpersonal communication seems to have grounded to a halt. It's also very theatrical with its use of action mixed with sounds/silence. A good director would love "Lunch."

What I additionally enjoy is that Mariel Eve Berlin-Fischler isn't placing the entire fault on technology. Sometimes you've got to ask what kind of a friend would place a higher level of importance of secondhand communication over face-to-face reality. It's Texter's actions that drown out Friend's conversation, and I love that.

"Lunch" would such a satisfying addition to a 1-minute play festival.

This very funny monologue for a female actor shows that a person could be dating the best person in the universe, but still find flaws in the relationship.

John Minigan enriches that premise with the level of detail Lois provides upon returning to her therapy sessions via Zoom. Minigan knows his stuff and some audiences will pick up on these gems and enjoy the story of "Lois Returns" even more.

Lois runs the gamut of emotions and has her own agenda, which makes her a great character. I enjoyed Back Porch Theater's performance in April 2021 very much.

Brian Scanlan has heightened everything in this murder mystery/dark comedy.

Characters are over-the-top even in the best of circumstances (and circumstances turn bad, fast); the dialogue takes shots at toxic men and bad theatre in quickfire, hold-your-breath-succession; there are dance numbers and red herrings galore to tease an audience's tastes as well.

I watched a virtual reading of "Murder at a Callback: A Batshit Mystery" on April 9, 2021. Every character gets the opportunity to shine, and the audience loved every moment. Scanlan has written a terrific murder mystery/dark comedy.

Modern romantic relationships, murder for hire, sibling squabbles, an obsession for "Frasier," and a Thanksgiving meal are ingredients in this darkly comic one-act play.

The characters and their relationships with one another are so clearly set up by Andres Osorio. Everything in this terrific play is character based -- the conflicts, the comedy, the reversals.

I watched and loved a virtual reading of "Murder Me So Hard" April 9, 2021. The audience and the actors alike were loving every minute. This is high-quality dark comedy.