Recommended by Steven G. Martin

This comic monologue works as a lovely "If, Then" conditional statement. It's a very comforting and logical and precise struture.

Credit playwright Emily McClain for providing a lot of detail about protagonist Casey in the first part of "Sticker Guilt." Casey tells us directly their relationship, and struggle, with accepting stickers as gifts. It's a clear character story.

But then McClain digs deeper in the second part of the monologue. We see how the details about Casey's interactions with sticker reflect on deeper personal issues. "If" Casey responds like then, "Then" we see deeper.

It's a nice, straightforward structure.

This monologue builds to a horror not through merely creating an atmosphere but by putting its protagonist Skylar through progressively word situations that would leave any person in tatters, emotionally and physically.

I watched a virtual reading of "The Interior" from Back Porch Theater in April 2021. The story, the performer were absolutely relentless, all of which raised Scott Sickles' script to the appropriate level of genuine horror.

Philip Middleton Williams nicely balances a difficult path in this beautiful memory play. He details in his relationship with Allen Pfannenstiel, including several moments that had to have hurt very much, and he does so objectively so that he and Allen are seen as 3-dimensional people with flaws and strengths rather than types.

The structure of this play is beautiful, the scope both broad yet focused, and the details highlighting the character of two men in love and ultimately as best friends are rich and plentiful.

We may never fully know a person, but Williams creates a strong portrait here.

Being part of a loving relationship takes work, but imagine how much more work it would take to love a time traveler.

Sarah Cho nicely showcases some of the bad parts of relationships -- keeping secrets, feeing inadequate -- as she writes about Judy and Mark. But she also includes moments of joy and (because time travel provides opportunities for screwups) some funny moments as well.

"Married to Time" feels like a warm-hearted, genial comedy of two people in love, two people working together to keep their marriage strong.

The lives of three women are encapsulated as a single conversation held while getting their hair done at a salon. Theatrical and imaginative, and -- more importantly -- emotional.

Jennifer Barclay provides insights into Hildy's, Debs's, and Rachelle's lives with excellent dialogue and repeating themes. And by having the characters in a setting where it's not easy to hear each other, and some details are lost in the conversation, Barclay creates several bittersweet moments.

"Tight Curls Today" would appeal to actors and audiences alike.

A terrific comedy told in the style of a melodramatic, high-adventure cliffhanger.

Miss Enid Stump is a wonderful creation: a never-say-die, fight-to-the-end heroine ready to help those in need (within the standard work day). Give Chris Widney credit for making Miss Stump's task very difficult, stumbling blocks from lousy organization to dull-witted and ornery co-workers. The role is a 10-minute tour de force for a female comic actor.

Audiences will come into a performance knowing that "Miss Stump's Got It," but they will delight in seeing how she gets it done. A charming, fanciful Valentine to the human touch.

This is a perfect short play.

This 10-minute play was so painful to read, and I have to imagine it would be so painful to watch in production.

Watching Howie debase himself and those he loves at the Temple of the Cult of Celebrity ... we see him lose everything that should be the core of his foundation. We know that he is lost in a lot of ways, and it hurts.

Credit Vic Shuttee for being unapologetically harsh and corrosive in "Howie Zazser Can't Not." It would be an unforgettable entry on any theatre festival.

Sometimes life just pulls us along for the ride, sometimes for the good and sometimes for the bad. This monologue has a strong foundation in both sides.

"What If, a monologue" affects an audience even more strongly because we recognize its setting, understand the complexities and ironies of its world, because we live there, too. Dramatic irony will be very strong in any production of this play.

Jeffrey James Keyes' play is filled with details that enhance the whirlwind-style romance that the unnamed protagonist experiences with Gus. And those details enhance the pain felt from the loss.

Audiences will be drawn to this 10-minute play because its world of vampires and zombies taking over speaks to our pop culture favorites. The world is going to hell! Survivors must band together! There's devastation everywhere!

But this is a Vince Gatton-penned play, and "Protocols" is much more subtle and humane. Shon and Ari deal with questions that only siblings caring for their parents must ask. There is so much uncertainty that caretakers face, and Gatton's script captures it so honestly -- including Ari's reluctance to tell Shon the main reason behind the phone call.

"Protocols" is marvelous work.