Recommended by Steven G. Martin

It's difficult to write friendship, and Malakhow does it very well in "Thrasher" -- there are plenty of moments of light teasing, anger, begging, genuine insults, forgiveness, and camaraderie in these few pages. Gabby and Taj feel entirely real as they negotiate the evening, and maybe even the future of their friendship.

I became so agitated reading Robert Weibezahl's one-minute drama. The change in tone from start to finish is astounding, completely plausible and -- based on how my heart rate picked up -- incredibly effective.

"The Boy Who Cried Dragon" is a feel-good play that has humor, adventure, stakes, and imagination to satisfy its audiences.

What's especially nice is that Inda Craig-Galván wants her protagonist, Travis, to be a positive influence on the life of his family and community, instead of a belligerent brat in the folk tale that inspired this play. This is marvelous Theatre for Young Audiences: colorful, bold, imaginative, emotional, funny, and true.

"Growth in Isolation" is absurd in the best ways possible.

The story itself is strange, but familiar -- the ups and downs of modern romantic relationships. The dialogue offers opportunities for humor, anger, and heartbreak for the actors and moments for the audience to feel genuine empathy -- and give Monica Cross credit because neither character is a villain or a martyr.

I watched a wonderful performance of "Growth in Isolation" by the Quarantine Players in September 2020.

Hayley St. James has written a truly feel-good and heartwarming play of its time.

We all crave connection and the COVID-19 pandemic has made it more difficult than usual to find and enjoy it. What makes "A Godawful Small Affair" even stronger than that is that the characters start off well, having what they need, but when the positive becomes mundane, that need to connect is still strong.

Credit St. James. They have written well-rounded, humane characters; joyful, sex-positive scenarios ... and the ending seems like it was destined from the beginning. A lovely full-length play.

I enjoyed very much the online virtual performance of "4 Horses of the Apocalypse" by Stage Left Theater in Spokane, Washington, in August 2020.

This is a highly intelligent and funny play, and very character based. The expectations the characters have about riding forth as part of the Apocalypse are even more emotional because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The humor comes like waves in "How to Talk to Your Child About Satan" -- a cast of characters who run to extremes, a scary situation that turns quite domestic and a little embarrassing, and dialogue filled with a ton of irony.

Fun characters, fun dialogue, fun scenario -- Prillaman's written a winning comedy.

I greatly enjoyed an online workshop reading of Jacobs' short comedy in earlier in August 2020.

Jacobs has nicely focused her characters so they are truly awful people who do nothing but get on one another's nerves. One-dimensional jerks = perfect for comedy. And the youngest character, Justice, just slices through their arguments, rigmarole and, yes, bullshit with a rants a plenty.

A satisfying comedy that would please a lot of audiences.

I love "If a Tree Falls." It's dark, intense, emotionally satisfying, the setting affects the story, and it's filled with power plays, mystery, lots of atmosphere, and a good deal of action -- and ultimately, inaction -- to highlight character. Give Kyle Smith a lot of credit for crafting this tense drama.

"Making Our Blackness" is satire at its best. Unforgettable. Shocking. Theatrical. Angry. This play has teeth and it's coming for the throat of contemporary America.