Recommended by Steven G. Martin

I've seen this performed several times to the delight of audiences. There's lots of humor based on the situation and characters, and the murder has several suspects and motives thrown together. Fast moving, fun, with an unexpected twist at the end.

Carbajal immediately sets up the world, the conflict and the rules of how the play will run -- all of which the audience recognizes and accepts within seconds -- he quickly provides insights into character, and he follows through a strong beginning and middle with the inevitable end. This one-minute play excels at everything that makes theatre exceptional.

People memorialized after horrific incidents are more than just a name and photo. Carnes' stark, two-minute docudrama is a reminder that lists of victims' names include neighbors, parents, lovers, siblings, children, friends, and others whom people cared about.

Among the strengths of Donnelly's sort play "Go Knights!" is the honest characterization of a person who doesn't respond well to disappointment, who lashes out at loved ones, who suggests unforgivable things, and whose go-to setting in an emotional crisis is selfishness. They can't all be heroes, and Julie Van Beek's responses are human.

Credit, too, to Donnelly for using action -- selecting music & dancing to it, specifically -- to further define character and bring the crisis to a (momentary?) resolution.

Among other strengths, Sickles' short play "Outpost" is terrific at telling a story through scope. The story begins at the deepest and widest of perspectives -- on the fringes of the Milky Way galaxy -- and then re-focuses to tell a very intimate story.

This one-act is both funny and sweetly romantic. Credit Moran for grounding the action, characters, and dialogue in a basic truth: We don't often get the truth when relationships fail, even if we really want to know why.

A ghost story. A story of searching and longing. A bittersweet story. Is there anything more lost than a ghost searching for identity and family? This site-specific play will impact its audience thanks to Graff's skill at crafting characters in need.

A fever dream of a comedy that'll leave audiences wondering if they've really seen what just happened on stage. This short play is more than just its scenario, though, as Stubbles creates well-drawn characters at odds with one another, deft dialogue, and comic action.

Masterful. Szymkowicz has crafted beautiful vignettes about love, longing, loss, and the inability to communicate these emotions. The dialogue and characters are everyday, but our guide -- the Photographer -- pulls them into sharper, detailed focus so the audience understands them better. This play is heartfelt and humane.

This play offers life and death struggles of the funniest kind as a suicidal chocolate bar tries to end it all. If only all characters were as self-aware as Stubbles' Choco and Ice -- they literally know what they're made of, and what they want, in this short comic (and oddly romantic) play.