Recommended by Steven G. Martin

Fans of Charles M. Schulz's "Peanuts" comic strip will love this fun and warm-hearted parody by DC Cathro. It is crystal clear that Cathro adores Schulz's work and holds it in high esteem.

Cathro creates characters outside the realm of the comic strip, but integral to the life and well-being of the characters inside it. That outsider perspective is a perfect comic foil to help an audience remember just how unusual and amazing Schulz's characters are.

"I'm Worried About Lucille" is terrific. Now read and produce it, you blockhead.

"Mister Freeman" is a terrific monologue. An older, Black, male actor would find a lot of emotions to play, the most important and impactful being pride and self-confidence.

Margo Rofé provides everything for an audience and an actor to understand Mister Freeman's life and philosophy, all through subtext and nuance. Rofé also provides Mister Freeman terrific action to make his point.

This would be a wonderful monologue to watch being performed.

I love the breadth of portraits that Heather Meyer has created in this 10-minute drama, made up of three monologues. The women are different ages and they battle different conflicts: against themselves/their bodies, against romantic partners, and against their social circle. The key takeaway: These women are fighters.

I especially enjoy the portrait of Woman 1. I admire her quiet perseverance even as I see her pain. Her portrait especially makes "Woman with a Bat" a strong candidate for an excellent production.

Adam Richter has created a devilishly funny short play that questions what is scarier: An ancient being destined to accompany people to the underworld upon their death or those nagging, self-inflicted pains we cause ourselves day-by-day.

Guess which wins.

"Colleen's Outer Demon" has funny dialogue, a treasure chest of characters, and plenty of action and plot points. I enjoyed a virtual reading of this script in 2021 and I'd really enjoy watching a production.

Get tissues ready; ears are going to bleed.

The dialogue that powers Abby Rose Morris's "hate play" is infantile, blistering, cruel, nasty and jaw-droppingly funny. These middle school students are a nightmare and a force of nature both. I especially liked Morris's subtle shift to bring an extra layer to their relationship.

"Lifting the Fog of War" is unlike any play I've read. Joe Swenson, a Marine Corps veteran, has brought an authentic setting of warfare and conflict to the stage. My pulse was pounding from the first beat because of the incidents, tension, characters and dialogue.

Another reason I love this play is that Swenson briefly shines a light on some of the attitudes surrounding the then-newly enacted "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Those attitudes seem to have created an uncomfortable atmosphere, and I finally understood just how dark it could be around the same time as Sgt. Blick.

John Busser has created a one-act comedy that is punny, silly and playful with this mash-up of "He-Man: Masters of the Universe" and "Fifty Shades of Grey." A lot of the fun comes from malapropisms, puns and more created through autocorrect tech. But there are more than enough characters and plotlines from both "He-Man" and "Fifty Shades" series to tickle an audience's funny bone.

This short play is part-relationship drama, part-wry "What If?" premise.

I like that Alexander Hehr juxtaposes the very focused, localized conflict of the Diana-Carmen relationship against the larger background of the epic, world-ending phenomena around them. Serious discussion between the women are broken up by the darkly comic interruptions from the Server.

This play is quirky and dark and a little sad. But it's uplifting, too, as self-worth shines, even if that light shines at the end of the world.

Yes the premise is gorgeous, allowing for both horror and humor. But what I most appreciate most in this one-act dark comedy is the journey taken by protagonists Arlo and Val.

Starting slightly bickering and slightly dissatisfied, the couple at the start of "For a Limited Time Only" turn very dark as conflicts grow deeper. And yet Daniel Prillaman provides them with a final turn that -- perhaps while not a happy ending -- sees them to a level of care that they had not shown before.

This play is emotionally richer because of Prillaman's skill.

This full-length drama stunned me. Mark Loewenstern spotlights the impact of Nellie Bly's daredevil journalism on the women cruelly treated at the asylum on Blackwell's Island. We see the impact on Anne Neville, a resident as the asylum before and after Bly's 10-day stay, as well as other residents and the staff.

Loewenstern storytelling is tremendous. Yes, there is realistic drama, but we feel through Anne's dreams how not only institutions but entire societies have attempted/are attempting to keep women docile and disenfranchised. We feel Anne is learning.

Truly a stunning script that will profoundly affect audiences when produced.