Recommended by Steven G. Martin

I love comedies that show conniving, entitled characters getting their comeuppance. In "The Smartest Person in the Room," Pam is playing chess. Her children Carol and Rick are playing checkers. Thank you, Karen Fix Curry, for showing Pam's prowess and strength.

Dazzlingly funny. I cackled with laughter during a virtual reading of this spoof of Hallmark Christmas movies that went darker than what I expected.

"Ripples" transported me, which I love. Who else reimagines vast time and space and cataclysmic events as a relationship drama with anthropomorphized black holes and Albert Einstein as director? Rachel Carnes only. Brilliant stuff.

Reading "Hot Yoga" brought a smile to my face. Hey, what's a bribe for if not to springboard someone to (potentially ) life-altering decisions? Now I want smoke salted caramel. Thanks, Paul Calandrino, for this comic 1-page play.

This one-act has big, sensational characters for actors to play. They'll make your blood boil, then it'll freeze. As much as I hated every character in "Doomscrollers of the Apocalypse," they're all still teens. Selfish and cruel and warped and amoral, but teens nonetheless.

"Stephen Hawking's Train" strikes all the right chords. It structure is beautifully apropos for a science fiction play about time travel. And the characters' perspectives -- one subtly pragmatic, the other fully enthusiastic -- are opposed enough to launch an unusual conflict that is going to capture an audience completely. "Stephen Hawking's Train" strikes all the right chords.

I love the many ways Elizabeth Shannon tells the story of these twin girls, including the structure of the dialogue. The audience, the reader gets a sense of the closeness of the girls not just through the words but also through the repetition and the banter. And then everything changes. It's jarring and very well crafted.

"The Lemon Knife" is a comedic monologue done right. I love the character development as Marjorie evolves from tangy and tart to sour and full-on acidic. She is a wonder with her convictions about desserts and standards and pretty much the chaos of the modern world.

Bone chilling horror with a rich backstory. Robust dramatic irony as the audience will see what's going on before either of the characters.

A perfect, very brief, ultimately comic monologue. Audiences are going to explode in laughter at the reveal. I did.