Recommended by Steven G. Martin

A 10-minute farce with international scope. Ian August does his ridiculous best to keep protagonist Eleanor from achieving her goal: to purchase a print of "Nude Descending a Staircase." It's a well-constructed comedy with pattern, wordplay, absurd logic and theatricality to tell the story: the kind of theater I especially enjoy. This is another winning short play by August.

The stakes couldn't be higher and the chicken-fried steaks couldn't be priced lower in Ian August's comedy "Frozen Foods." Carol and Linda are terrific foils -- a woman of thought, a woman of action -- and August is especially good at taking the audience through Carol's twisted, yet logical to her, realizations about God, the universe and existence.

Carnes has written a gem of a play. Admittedly it's a black diamond with sharp edges that will cut you and make you bleed, but a gem nonetheless. "Everybody Hates Mariah Carey" is a terrific dark comedy that cuts through the treacly twaddle associated with a lot of holiday plays.

DeLanna Studi's "Flight" shows the importance of knowing who you are. It affects not only how an individual lives day-by-day, but how historically mistreated people survive generation-by-generation. Quoya, the protagonist and a member of the seventh generation of the Cherokee Nation, is at a crossroads wonderfully constructed by Studi's dialogue and action. I would love to follow her journey further.

Watching a performance or reading of this play really brings out the warm feelings between the characters. The banter & dialogue soften the characters who -- while doing some bad things to a third person -- really do care about one another. I realized this upon watching a virtual reading by Tiny Theatre on Facebook.

Mark-Eugene Garcia's dark comedy is funny and eye-opening because of the dimensions of these two people. Produce this play and discover it for yourself.

Schatzie Schaefers infuses light and cheer in the institutionally encouraged bonhomie at Cafe Gratitude. There are clever names for the menu items and the daily affirmations made by customers and workers. But Schaefers shifts past this to provide a quiet, direct, simple climax -- one that shows the importance of direct, human connection during times of sorrow, loss and grieving. This is a generous, open-hearted play.

Lee Lawing infuses a lot of fun into "Storm Eye Closing" with fast-paced action, explosions, cons and double-crossing characters. There's a lot of opportunity for stagecraft: fight choreography, lighting, sound, sets and costumes. Action done well!

"Change is hard."

In one minute, Claudia Haas shows the audience just how much school life in the United States has changed these past few years. "It's Special" is a clear, concise and entertaining script that will shake an audience.

Masterful and sublime. Vovos sets up the rules of this comedy so easily and subtly, and then builds upon the situation to make it more ridiculous (in a good way). And just when the laughs are coming good and plenty, he knocks the audience off its chair with scathing honesty about relationships and self-esteem, and even questions if love is enough.

And then, back to comedy. God bless John and Katharine, our protagonists. This is a roller coaster of an emotional short play.

"Truth doesn’t matter anymore. It’s who plays this game best." Kel Vance's political campaign satire "Vote 4 Me" delivers a punch as Willa explains to Rada how politics and public appeal work. All credit to Vance, though, when Rada punches back with her ideals firmly set forward. This is a terrific comic piece.