Recommended by Steven G. Martin

Holly Arsenault dramatizes a relationship that shouldn't be. These are selfish, blinkered, destructive people who try to assert their dominance over the other.

Arsenault beautifully characterizes Brian and Catherine through their actions. Brian never stops moving in this short play, and we understand how he is wearing on Christine. And with the simplest, most direct of actions -- like a sledgehammer through crystal -- Christine breaks Brian.

The problem with most rom-coms? There's not enough romance or comedy. "Hotter Than Thoreau," however, gives an audience plenty of laughs and plenty of romantic moments.

Additional cheers as Zaffarano provides Coke and Denny with more than just a horndog dimension. It's not a plot twist, it's depth.

This is a wonderful mash-up of first-date jitters and 1950's B-movie tropes. The characters have genuine chemistry, there are knowing one-liners and zingers galore, and oh the visuals and action!

Hernandez's theatricality is relentless in the wonderful "Momma." There is joy, sadness, and tension as the story unfolds not only through dialogue but also movement and visual metaphors. Hernandez also trusts the audience's intelligence as we receive only glances at Karen's and Evelyn's backstories, and the play concludes with an unforgettable image.

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.