Recommended by Steven G. Martin

Ruben Carbajal pushes everything to its extreme in this 10-minute dark comedy: the conflict, the stakes, the characters' actions and reactions. It's serious and ridiculous all at once, and it also says something about the need for human connection and interaction. There's a lot to take in in these 10 minutes, and it's wonderful.

"Burning Airlines Gives You So Much More" should be produced and performed a lot.

I like "Pickers: A Ten-Minute Play" for many reasons. First, through James McLindon's research, we see the circumstances may be contemporary but the central issue of economic disparity extends beyond these times.

Second, I like when characters have the same goal but differ on how to achieve it. Or are far more similar than dissimilar. It feels more realistic and humane than creating characters who are diametrically opposed.

Third, McLindon shows through action this conflict will lead to Terry making more choices. The audience intuits this is a life-altering event for Terry.

"Pickers" deserves a rich, robust production history.

Playwrights would love to dramatize a situation like the one in "When Cranes Cha-Cha." Give Emily McClain credit because although the story is based in fact -- see the Twitter URL in the summary for the inspiration -- she makes the story her own, building complications upon complications. She turns this story into a side-splitting play.

I expected this 10-minute drama to move in one direction -- why does Amanda need the loan, why is her mother kept out of the loop -- but DC Cathro treads toward more humane and interesting territory.

Father and daughter speak openly in "Cleaning Gravestones," but also gently and with understanding which makes the underlying hurt and realizations more difficult to bear. Monsters yelling are easily ignored, but it stings badly when a hurtful truth is shared by a loved one.

I enjoyed a January 2022 reading of "Cleaning Gravestones" from Reading (Pa.) Theatre Project.

What I especially like about Doug, the protagonist in Donald E. Baker's monologue is that -- at age 13 -- he was a little shit.

There's nostalgia in "Dad and Uncle Mark (Who Was Not Really My Uncle)" and there's coming of age, self-aware moments too, but that little detail, that Doug blackmailed his father, adds a nice sour, salty bite to the story. I think it'll provide an older actor something additional to play in performance.

Making your protagonist even moderately unlikeable for even a short amount of time? Nicely done, Donald E. Baker.

Scott Sickles takes the parody of presidential politics seriously, and this one-act is all the stronger because of it.

"The Presidential Chili Cook Off" is ripe with twists and turns, reversals and double-reversals, and all kind of ploys. Anything less would be a disservice to the characters and, frankly, the audience.

This is a script loaded with visuals, the cast is all-female, and Sickles enjoys puffing up the ego of these characters who believe their story will rock the world, before he deflates them mercilessly.

I greatly enjoyed a virtual reading of this play.

What did I just read?

This is a jaw-droppingly tasteless, lewd and funny one-page monologue. Viraj Shriwardhankar starts at such a high point with the first line of "A Man in Uniform" that I wasn't sure where the play could go from there.

Shriwardhankar went there and beyond. Now lift your jaw and consider how well-structured and well-written this play is. We get to enjoy an unusual character and -- we learn at the very end -- an unusual situation.

I recommend "Prefers Bright Indirect Light" for reading and production because Veronica Tjioe puts her characters through the emotional wringer. They experience everything from grief and despair, disillusionment and ennui to -- and this is where I found myself so very happy -- bright, genuine, mood-altering joy.

Nicely distinct characters, plenty of emotions and reverses, some existential themes, and a bit of joy? I really like this short comedy.

This one-minute play is a gift to the talented physical comediennes of the stage. I'd love to see a production.

Elisabeth Giffin Speckman has done beautiful work here -- providing a strong plot structure but giving the actor and director enough space to fill out the details as they like. "Mary Pickford First Breaks Her Silence" is visual, full of action and suspense, and has a wonderful, comic conclusion.

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.