Recommended by Steven G. Martin

When a person realizes she isn't young anymore, it's a life-changing moment. Mona Washington captures the moment wonderfully in the one-minute comedy "Synecdoche."

A wonderful part of this comedy is the suggestion that there is no realization so painful that it can't be made worse with a parent's commentary. Hello wound, meet salt.

Seanan Palmero Waugh has written a sharp jab of a satirical play that hits its target smack-dab in the middle.

It isn't just that I can relate to this play or that its very premise is true. The great thing is the unanswered question at the end, and the implications that the non-answer suggests. Whose life holds value?

Frolicking and sexy at first, affirming and empowering at the end. "The Dawning of the Age of Ganymede" quickens the pulse.

When the most powerful beings want to shop, it's fun to hear them coo and swoon over the best-looking mortal of all time. It's fun to change up tradition, like they say. But Wang strongly aligns with the seriousness of such decisions (Zeus comes out!) and what their effects may be -- all while keeping things brisk and banter-filled.

A nice tightrope act, comedically written. Brava, Lucy Wang!

A feel-good, warm-hearted, gently comic short play about Chinese fathers and sons communicating (and sometimes not communicating) about their lives.

From the setting to the characters and dialogue, Lucy Wang skillfully leads the audience and characters into a play about understanding and appreciating tradition, yet not shying away from new opportunities. The role of Charlie would be a gift to an older comic actor, and the bantering dialogue would please any audience. "Tao of Fruit" would make for a delightful production.

"Until Sunrise, or, When Blue Hours Turn Golden" is more in-depth than a mantra, more intelligent than a pep talk or rally cry, more sincere and open and soothing than most monologues.

These are the words that your loved one writes on a hidden note placed secretly in your pocket. These are the words that the wisest in your community expresses to the whole. Intimate & broad. Franky Gonzalez's words soothe and secure, especially amidst difficult times.

May this short play have a rich, varied production history so the words, the emotions reach many, many people.

This is a perfect 10-minute play about New Year's Eve, about possibilities and uncertainties.

It's almost too much to consider what the future may hold, especially on December 31. It's exhilarating that Rachel Lynett dramatizes multiple possibilities for Massiel's life -- and not all of them pleasant -- in this 10-minute play through wonderful visuals and plot structure.

Nandita Shenoy absolutely captures how to tell a story using Zoom or other screen-based virtual communication. But what especially shines in this 10-minute play is the story, the characters, and their relationship that she dramatizes.

"To the Stars with Love" showcases wistful, emotional characters who cannot be together. To make things even more emotional for the audience, Shenoy shows that they would be good for one another when she allows them to reminisce fondly on their shared past.

World building, characterization, dialogue and subtext, platform -- Shenoy has written a must-read, must-watch, must-produce play.

Playwrights on assignment are like an exotic plant in a mundane lawn -- wildly out-of-place, difficult not to stare at, and creating more than a bit of drama. Also: fascinating.

Bennett's short comedy "Assigned Blessing" is a loving portrait of two new, blinkered playwrights on assignment and the chaos that ensues -- mostly for their subject. It's a warm-hearted comedy that deserves the production and award history it has garnered so far.

I love the big, sprawling, a little messy, a little chaotic, somewhat patchwork but completely unified epic nature of this genius collection!

The individual plays are about Matthew Weaver. The sum is about storytelling and the tools we use to tell stories, it is about how different perspectives can still tell the truth, it is about community coalescing, it is about playfulness and seriousness and romance and comedy and drama.

Unique & unified, but also individualistic. It's so many things.

Cristina Luzárraga has written a genuinely funny 10-minute farce that'll make audiences laugh out loud.

"Egg Timer" is almost a fever dream, given the characters and the dialogue. But credit Luzárraga for the slight tonal change at the end, too. This is a fantastic "What if?"-premise play.