Recommended by Steven G. Martin

I enjoyed very much the online virtual performance of "4 Horses of the Apocalypse" by Stage Left Theater in Spokane, Washington, in August 2020.

This is a highly intelligent and funny play, and very character based. The expectations the characters have about riding forth as part of the Apocalypse are even more emotional because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The humor comes like waves in "How to Talk to Your Child About Satan" -- a cast of characters who run to extremes, a scary situation that turns quite domestic and a little embarrassing, and dialogue filled with a ton of irony.

Fun characters, fun dialogue, fun scenario -- Prillaman's written a winning comedy.

I greatly enjoyed an online workshop reading of Jacobs' short comedy in earlier in August 2020.

Jacobs has nicely focused her characters so they are truly awful people who do nothing but get on one another's nerves. One-dimensional jerks = perfect for comedy. And the youngest character, Justice, just slices through their arguments, rigmarole and, yes, bullshit with a rants a plenty.

A satisfying comedy that would please a lot of audiences.

I love "If a Tree Falls." It's dark, intense, emotionally satisfying, the setting affects the story, and it's filled with power plays, mystery, lots of atmosphere, and a good deal of action -- and ultimately, inaction -- to highlight character. Give Kyle Smith a lot of credit for crafting this tense drama.

"Making Our Blackness" is satire at its best. Unforgettable. Shocking. Theatrical. Angry. This play has teeth and it's coming for the throat of contemporary America.

Mildred Lewis' short play "Submerged" offers a glimmer of hope, of personal connection during a hellacious "What if?" scenario: living during the final, dying embers of humanity, of civilization.

Lewis makes good use of virtual communication technology -- and its limitations. Even better, Lewis writes strong characters with needs and fears and wants and flaws. "Submerged" would be wonderful to see a performance.

This is how to have some fun with an audience prior to a show. Immersive, a bit interactive, silly (you had me at "French-accented," Benjamin Carr!), and also serious. This monologue would be so much fun for a comic actor, and would be unforgettable for audiences.

This one-act play may be the very definition of unadulterated joy.

Scott Sickles has created a world in which his four young protagonists can play without any shadows of others' expectations. And it's beautiful to watch, and it conjures a bit of nostalgia for those of us who may have wanted such a world for ourselves at age eight.

It's also quite funny, as eight-year-old logic and experience are in charge. And it's blissfully earnest, too, as these children don't need to hide anything from one another.

Pure unadulterated joy.

"Sad Lonely People" is a little dark, a little cold, and a little bitter -- like that harsh winter wind that hits you in the face after you've finished celebrating New Year's Eve, which signals the champagne dreams are over and the reality of the year has set in.

This short play is a wonderful character piece and McNeill's skill at naturalistic dialogue is terrific.

A nightmarish, horrifying 10 minutes that overlap our current reality just enough to make this play even more unsettling. Very highly recommended.

Addendum: I watched a Facebook reading of "Drain" by Rockford New Words on Jan. 22, 2021. The nightmare only became more heightened, as did the ridiculousness (God serves the President!). Political. Painful. Personal. Very highly recommended.