Recommended by Steven G. Martin

Hernandez's short play beautifully dramatizes what a person goes through before opening up emotionally to another. This isn't an "awwww" moment, either. It's an applause-worthy one.

Credit Langsner's skills on this short portrait. It's very dark, yes, but the subject also is self-aware about the cycles of loss the pathological lies create. Audience will sense the bitterness in it, too.

Freakin' awesome monologue. Strength, power, authority, and directness used to show love and support for a gay teen son during a one-sided conversation with the son's would-be teen suitor.

Cooper-Novack's short drama is a kaleidoscope: It's a constantly shifting portrait of the concepts of power and powerlessness, of being "important" and being "everyday," all through the lenses of contemporary times and ancient history.

We need to connect with others. In "Tracy Jones," Stephen Kaplan dramatizes how sometimes the people we connect with aren't who we expected or wanted -- and sometimes those expectations make us behave worse than we normally would.

The central struggle of this play is universal and understandable. Kaplan's characters are layered, interesting, and have their own need and voice. There's humor, longing, cruelty, warmth, and a deft touch of hopefulness. Actors, directors and audiences will long remember "Tracy Jones."

Update: Excellent performances in The Bechdel Group's virtual reading of "Tracy Jones" in October 2021 made the script even richer.

Blatt's short play pits jaded, selfish cynicism against naïve, altruistic optimism. What's especially terrific is that both Jill and Cathy are given equal voice; Blatt understands her characters' points of view so well.

Goldman-Sherman masterfully uses action to create character in this short monologue. The audience recognizes the protagonist by her activity: nonstop washing and drying of dishes.

With that as a baseline, the dialogue accents even more strongly her anger, irony, disgust (sometimes comic), and demoralization.

This is an intricate, emotional journey. DeVita's skill at characters, plot and structure is key to this drama. Phillie's relationships with friends and family are strengthened, dissolved, exploded, and reformed.

Weaver's one-act has a sprawling scope: nothing less than the earliest history of Homo sapiens. There's misery, struggle, and violent death. It's also intimate; the audience is treated to the story of the first romantic couple. All without a line of dialogue.

An adventurous director, cast, and design team would jump at the opportunity to produce this play. "Very First Kiss" has a high level of difficulty, but it would make for a long-remembered performance.

The setup, the conflict, the deadpan punchline. "Planning Ahead" is quick, comic and delivers a little social commentary in a minute.