Recommended by Steven G. Martin

Sisters miffed at one another, children grifting the adults with guilt and whining, and comic twist that makes a person re-think who Santa Claus is.

Emily McClain's 10-minute holiday comedy "Swipe Right on Me, Santa" doesn't show people in their pristine best. They're disheveled messes who cajole, whine, coerce, lie, and play the fool to get what they want. And it's a tonic to be able to laugh out loud at them and their foibles.

This dramatic monologue comes from Williams' "The Sugar Ridge Rag," an historic play.

Philip Middleton Williams clearly knows Deb Granger's voice, and clearly she's suffering -- she feels she's all alone with her thoughts and fears for her son fighting in the Vietnam War, and she's trying desperately to connect with her husband. It's heartbreaking, her near-desperation.

Female actors will love "Do You Get It" because Williams so clearly steps from one level of intensity to another, and the audience will love the details of the lives dramatized. Sobering and affecting.

This comedy is a nice, refreshing jolt of camaraderie, of being pals in a minute's time. And yes, it's made even better by the characters being dogs.

Philip Middleton Williams shows a talent for writing genuine friendship in "Gee Your Butt Smell Terrific." There's a directness, a fondness between Ben and Sam that's so genuine and, frankly, pleasing. These two affectionate pals are great together.

Neatly structured and sprightly paced, "Welcome to Fourbucks" is a classic, one-minute comedy.

Philip Middleton Williams nicely adds a twist as the gently corny conclusion provides a clean, precise critique of modern life and American culture.

"Welcome to Fourbucks" is an iridescent bubble of a play. Short-lived, yes, but eye catching and charming, nonetheless.

Extraordinarily witty, light, and playful. A feel-good 10-minute play.

Ken Preuss has created a fun game within this romantic comedy, and once the audience is in on the rules, they'll be playing along with the characters and cheering throughout. "A.V.A. (An ExtrAVAantly Romantic Comedy)" will make everyone cheer. Read it, produce it, and revel in its sweetness and joy.

A fun and funny ten-minute comedy about temperaments: the fanciful, artistic, ridiculous, and (perhaps) positive up against the realistic, factual, curmudgeonly, and (perhaps) negative.

The situation is silly, the characters are wonderful foils for each other. Credit Jeff Dunne for creating a 10-minute short play that might also serve as a personality test. Do you find yourself siding more with Josey or Evan? It might tell you a bit about yourself.

Also give Dunne credit for research: Jeff shows more than a little insight into birds/poultry/farming with "The Condor Egg."

The funny, endearing, nearly perfect foils Ling-Ling and Terrence from "Black, White & Red All Over" return in this gleeful, entirely satisfying, comic follow-up adventure by Daniel Prillaman.

You know what? They're even better as Prillaman creates a terrific third character, the penguin Millie, to add a bit more conflict and another POV. Romance is in the air, as is flatulence, adventure, laugh-out-loud humor, and sly self-awareness (who knew penguins were so analytical?!).

Cheers to Prillaman for creating such fun characters, for knowing what makes them terrific, and expanding on those traits. An absolute winner of a comedy.

This 10-minute thriller pushes all the right buttons to make an audience squirm and wriggle with fear and delight.

This one-act play is plotted so well and naturally, it feels everything is fated to have happened. And that fate is deep and dark, as assumptions and paranoia turn was had been frivolous and juvenile into something threatening and disgusting.

Give Max Mondi a ton of credit for "Some Guy Masturbated in the Ocean" not only for taking the shift in tone, but also leading audiences to question, to question, to question ... and probably not know for certain.

All details are accounted for, pacing is grand, dialogue is right-on, and the end monologue is a gift to audiences.

A wonderful monologue filled with heightened action, a larger-than-life personality, and a story that builds its tension slowly at first and then with a torrent of feelings.

Scott Sickles knows how to create character -- it's in action and gesture, what is said, how it's said ("It is not me" may be my favorite line), and what isn't said. A female actor will find Suzanna so enjoyable to perform.

And Sickles' greatness at story and plot lend Suzanna even more rich depth as, frankly, "Rainy Night in a Piazza of Stone" went to a place I didn't expect.