Recommended by Steven G. Martin

The amount of world-building established before the first piece of actual exposition is astounding. Through dialogue, action, and tone Jennifer Walton does a lot of work so the audience understands the the Controller and Citizens' society.

Walton goes even further, though. "Citizen 10" isn't just a dystopian drama filled with an oppressive, stagnating environment. It's a philosophical social critique about forcing homogenous thought, it's a dark comedy of too many manners. It's chilling and, despite everything, it's ultimately positive and an absolute theatrical treat.

"Citizen 10" should enjoy a robust, varied production history.

This monologue is a love letter from John Mabey to humanity and everything about it, both strengths and flaws.

Mabey creates perhaps the highest-level view of humankind here: an astronomical POV from another galaxy. As the protagonist BX19TR33 notes, humans have had a bit of a difficult time; can't everyone just give humanity a break?

BX19TR33 also notes that humanity is going to thrive again. It's the kind of theatrical reminder we need. Thanks, John Mabey. (And thanks for the dark, comic perspective you provide immediately afterward -- I cackled in delight.)

This is a terrific comedy mashup. In 10 minutes, audiences will enjoy a pleasant spoof of George Orwell's "1984" and a biting satire on the ever-extended presence of pop music, its creators and fandom.

Steven Hayet is masterful here. Readers and audiences will immediately tell that Hayet enjoys Orwell's novels, but they'll also note the critiques toward pop culture. It's really a delicate balance to achieve: not so mean-spirited that the story turns ugly, but also not so lightweight that it's just piffle.

"George Orwell's 1989: A 'Swift' 10 Minute Adaptation" is fun and has a point of view.

This audacious 10-minute comedy keeps marching toward moments that are more unusual and shocking, yet also inevitable, than those that preceded them.

Maximillian Gill doesn't just present workplace wish fulfillment in "Stick." The consequences and counter-consequences are just as integral to the story. And audiences are going to remember them for a long, long time.

This one-minute play would be terrific for actors. There is so much story told physically, wordlessly in "Gratitude 31." Prillaman also gives a view of contrasting characters for an audience to enjoy.

This isn't a play about conflict, but rather kindness. It's a moment that surely happens hundreds of time each day worldwide, but isolating the action heightens it and make it feel grander.

The satire of this one-minute play starts in the listing of the setting, even before we meet the characters. Everything you need to know about the tone can be found in "Time: the present, unfortunately."

Adam Richter batters audiences and readers with absolute precision and objectivity. That Noah and Chloe have difficulty remembering one traumatic incident from another is darkly comic -- like 12:01 am in the deepest cave in America dark -- and also sharp commentary about where American life now seems to center.

Brilliant, heartbreaking, clawing work in a single minute.

Harrison Young uses heightened language -- wordplay and rhyme, namely -- to wonderful effect in this one-act comedy set during a police interrogation.

Audiences will sit forward in their seats to listen to "Alaskan Assassins." The dialogue will be a good challenge for actors, and the payoff at the end would be incredible. This play is a blueprint on how to achieve a standing ovation every night.

Credit Harrison Young for his wit and a hint braggadocio (hell, I would be proud too!) -- this is a high-wire act done with aplomb.

In this short, very comic monologue, an anxious mind speeds through several subjects when pondering how to fall in love within the time parameters set by dating apps.

I laughed out loud several times reading "Cheese Sauce." Cora Frank leads readers and audiences through a path of highly varied non sequiturs that spin wildly out of a tortured mind. But for as funny as this monologue is, Frank has placed a bitter core at its center: sometimes people will work themselves up into a debilitating frenzy when faced with the unknown.

This a terrific monologue that should be produced often.

If "Animal Kingdom" is an unproducible play -- with its emotional core, its imaginative 'what if?' scenario, its gargantuan scope, and its soothing condolences to those in need -- then I don't want to read plays that are.

Thank you, Matthew Weaver, showing that we're interconnected especially during those times when grief could lead us to feel that we aren't.

This one-minute satire is sharp and efficient, noting how contemporary interpersonal communication seems to have grounded to a halt. It's also very theatrical with its use of action mixed with sounds/silence. A good director would love "Lunch."

What I additionally enjoy is that Mariel Eve Berlin-Fischler isn't placing the entire fault on technology. Sometimes you've got to ask what kind of a friend would place a higher level of importance of secondhand communication over face-to-face reality. It's Texter's actions that drown out Friend's conversation, and I love that.

"Lunch" would such a satisfying addition to a 1-minute play festival.