Recommended by Steven G. Martin

Wilcox's solo piece offers several perspectives about the myth of Persephone traveling to the Underworld -- daughter's, mother's, lover's, and subjects'. As the performer transforms into the characters, Wilcox provides them tools -- properties that take on different meanings and movement. I really enjoyed the storytelling.

Science is so boring ... until it causes the destruction of the world in only a few moments. All of existence, including Mack trucks, is sucked into a black hole. Thanks, Switzerland. This one-minute play would be wonderfully chaotic and energetic on stage with so many opportunities for actors to shine physically and vocally.

A satirical snapshot of insular, blinkered individuals who would dismiss any genuine environment or experience with a sneer and snide comment. Hovanesian's one-minute comedy will make audiences shake their collective heads in disbelief.

Everyone -- Deadly Sin and Cardinal Virtue included -- has their tipping point. It can feel that day-to-day existence has become a never-ending, tedious rut. Bravo to Weaver to carrying this theme to mythological proportions in this comedy.

Hayet clearly loves and respects Roald Dahl's classic story, and this comedic full-length play is a wonderful nod to the original.

Like Dahl, Hayet includes fantasy, silly humor and casual cruelty. Hayet also dramatizes life lessons, but the characters in this play sort things out for themselves and become more self-aware, rather than having lessons forced upon them.

Also, it's a very funny script.

This is robust storytelling that uses minimal dialogue and trusts the audience to infer details. Weaver defines the brothers through their actions -- and there is quite a lot happening in this 1-minute play -- and then unlocks the backstory and the emotion with a single line of dialogue.

A perfect one-minute amusement: some snark and bite coupled with an insider's lament about submitting plays. The irony of seeing this performed in a festival would be irresistible.

Tabaque shows the riotously funny and quietly somber sides of anger in this short play. Annie is loud, mean, and ridiculous when confronting the corporate fast food syndicate and her no-good friends who don't support her. But she's also angry at the losses in her life and at being overlooked. Funny, theatrical, personal stuff here. A terrific character.

Great fun. This short play spoofs the "Encyclopedia Brown" mysteries, sure, but it also contrasts eras well. (Spoiler: the new millennium seems a lot grittier than the 1960s.)

Higbee's charming folktale will delight adults and children alike. It's a very stylized script: the foundation is its storybook logic, the characters are well cast in the "fool" mode of classic tales, and the comedy is punctuated with physical humor.