Recommended by Steven G. Martin

It was painful to hear this monologue in performance on Back Porch Theater. Which is the point.

It's the end of Courtney's nightmare. How did she get here, how did the world close in around her? Lee Lawing knows; we all do. We all know we're living in the days that seem to do nothing but divide us.

"Blood Red State" is painful and necessary.

The characters in "A Carefully Planned Spontaneity" may have a few decades more experience than the protagonists in other Scott Sickles romances, but they express a similar sense of uncertainty, bashfulness, and hope their younger counterparts do.

It's not just that "A Carefully Planned Spontaneity" features characters in their 50s and 60s -- although it's wonderful that it does -- it's also a good story that will have audiences rooting for the future of these characters.

This is a sledgehammer of a satire: very funny and shudder inducing. A part of me wishes Greg Lam's science-fiction scenario was reality; it would provide some reason why the state of leadership in the world has changed so drastically.

"The Ones Who Adapt" is a terrific short play. It's easy to see why this comedy was published in "The Best New Ten-Minute Plays, 2020" by Applause Acting. It deserves all the publications and productions it earns.

"Legacy" is a terrific feel-good play, and that's because Daysha Veronica has created wonderful characters, especially mother Toni. Toni is an enthusiastic, life-loving, big personality who commands a space in the best way. And then Veronica shows off Toni's support and love for Harper, audiences are absolutely going to fall in love with her.

I'd love to see "Legacy" performed in person. I'd love to see its production history even more full.

This is the 10-minute play that a festival audience will be speaking about for days: the working poor, sacrifice-selfishness, body perception, reproduction/sex and self-worth.

Give a lot of credit to Scott Carter Cooper for setting up the world of "The Donor Class" as dark and Dystopian, and then finding just the right moment to make the drop the other shoe. Going from dreary and dark to almost Day-Glo Neon Pink in tone (and humor!) is stunningly funny. This is satire done very, very well.

A strange and wonderful blend of futility, philosophy, hope, uncertainty and acceptance. Beautiful, morbid and impossible to ignore, like a giant funeral wreath of black roses laid over a casket.

Actors, directors, designers and audiences will love a production of "Chicken is Condemned to Be Free." Bravo to Jesse Jae Hoon.

Beautiful yet sobering.

It's a beautiful example of oral traditions and folktales with language devices that enhance the story being told. It's sobering because an audience knows exactly when they exist in the timeline of this destruction myth and the role they play in it.

Ruben Carbajal's skills are on full display in "Myth."

Jillian Blevins deftly blends outstanding character adaptations, the looming negative feelings a lot of us feel during the pandemic, a beautiful extension of one of Ancient Greece's greatest dramas, and genuine humane care for people and the world in this wonderful one-act play.

"Izzy at Zoom Therapy" is especially strong in character and dialogue. And its ending is wonderfully visual and action-related.

A lovely particle of a play densely packed with ideas. "The Nihilists Victorious" serves as a definition and a criticism of Nihilism, it's got both silly humor and more than a taste of satirical bitterness ... all of this with a mere 10 words of dialogue.

When the tone shifts in this short play, it shifts HARD.

Gwenyth Fraser takes an audience -- and the characters -- from a pleasant outing with friends to a black comedy about cannibalism and survival to the briefest of glimpses into horror.

"Harvest (or: Survivalist Corn Maze)" would creep out an audience really well, especially if it could be produced in an immersive environment.