Recommended by Steven G. Martin

Graff presents the Unknown as Stalker and Slayer.

Scary as hell to read. Probably even scarier in a site-specific space where it's meant to be performed. An audience in a public space is not going to hear and see everything in this story, and their imaginations will fill in details with the most horrific options.

A lazy, incompetent, thoughtless colleague. A boss who can't be bothered with face-to-face meetings. An underling with an angle and a far-reaching plan. Welcome to Matt's world. Welcome to advertising.

Green's "The Campaign" is great workplace comedy and insightful social satire. Produce it.

Nelson Diaz-Marcano's short comedy features plenty of bad people doing stupid and selfish things, and there's a bit of a comeuppance at the end. Which makes it the best kind of comedy. Actors and audiences alike will love "The Hostile, The Holy and The Holding" in any holiday-themed festival.

Good back-and-forth dialogue between characters at odds, including just the right amount and intensity of cursing. Ultimately upbeat. "Marathon" would be a fine addition to a mini-play festival.

Deray has written a monologue about a character who may not have had much of a voice in the past. Thanks to the details in this script -- including the emotional highs and lows Deray writes so directly -- he sure as hell has a voice now. Powerful, uplifting, strong.

Audiences will laugh aloud at McGregor's use of logic and physical comedy in this very funny play. The fact that he skewers some extremist beliefs also is pretty terrific.

Even before its shocking twist at the end, Richard Lyons Conlon's short play will quicken the pulse of everyone in the audience.

A bittersweet story, and a situation that probably is true for too many people.

Bravo to Donnelly for showing different relationships -- with society, family, romantic partners, and self -- and how they may or may not evolve over time.

Beck trusts an audience's intelligence to infer the state of the world and the importance of art and ritual in "Mechanicals." There is joy, yes, but also self-sacrifice and heroism portrayed in the most understated of ways. I'd love to see this play produced, especially the end, with its imagery and repetition.

Beck nods to Shakespeare in the title and actions, but it feels that Beckett also has influenced the creation of this science fiction drama. Very well written.

Damn, damn, damn! Self-expression can be a vile, excruciating act. Cooper's monologue shows the character's desperation very well. Audiences will long remember this short play.