Recommended by Steven G. Martin

I listened to a reading of "Parent / Teacher Night" on Back Porch Theater's Facebook page in February 2021.

Francis Boyle creates such crisp dialogue for the teacher protagonist in this short monologue. There's wit, there's reason, there's imagery, there's an implied command of the situation for the teacher, a character of strength back by Right.

And then comes the turn. Everything changes; the language, the emotion, and even our perceptions of the protagonist. And at the end, we understand who the teacher is speaking to and why. And it hurts to know why.

This one-act play feels like a football-field-sized mural built by hand using Dominoes.

John Busser is brilliant in working out story, plot, character, and motivation in "Time Travelers Can Apply Yesterday" to such high precision. Busser's plays always have a heightened sense of wit, but this play reaches a new dimension. Read it once to revel in its story, read it several more times to enjoy the skill that makes it feel effortless.

And I love that for as finely tuned the play is, Busser creates a climax that is absolutely groan-worthy and low and a mess. Genius payoff. Genius.

A classically funny short comedy -- the set up, the complications, the resolutions are executed with what seems so much ease.

Lisa Dellagiarino Feriend, however, puts a lot of work into making "The Early Flight" look so easy. There are subtle shifts in tone, the complications add depth to the characters (which can serve as a red herring to distract from the original conflict). Dellagiarino Feriend even creates two separate endings to satisfy a variety of production opportunities.

There's a lot of work put into this relationship comedy, and it all pays off. Read, produce, and enjoy.

Not until the final line of dialogue will an audience fully understand the dark. comic story here. And it's very satisfying to be kept in the dark.

This isn't to say Ken Preuss cheats audiences and readers with "Science Friction: The Rapid Deconstruction of a Rational Mind." It's just the opposite, as I could sense something was wrong even with light touches and references to oh-so-many science fiction stories. Preuss provides hints.

But it isn't 'til the end when everything is laid out will an audience fully understand the conflict and the resolution in this short, terrific play.

This may be the perfect comic play that shows just how much everyone is over apocalyptic events and headlines. Dark comedy done oh so well.

What I love about Greg Lam's "This Year" is the characters' tone. World weariness and apathy are hilarious points of view to take in what really is a horrific situation. With everything else piled on, what more can we ask from our protagonists beside a tired sigh?

Credit Greg Lam's excellent dialogue. Audiences are going to laugh out loud with glee as the characters roll their eyes, groan with annoyance, and shrug throughout.

This 10-minute drama isn't a play that an audience member is going to enjoy, but it will leave a huge impact.

Jared Eberlein's "Click! (A Travel Motif)" is painful because its use of repetition -- dialogue, action, sound effects, results -- left me feeing that nothing has changed or will change. But change must happen.

This is not an easy play, nor is it fun. But it's powerful and necessary. May its production history ever grow.

An absolutely charming, glad-spirited, 10-minute comedy.

Adam Richter obviously knows the depth of Immanuel Kant's and David Hume's philosophies and rivalry. What makes "Dead White Guys on the Midway" such a winning, jovial script is placing the characters and rivalry in a fun, colorful, contemporary setting: a carnival midway.

It's really neat to juxtapose these philosophers debating while also being absolutely taken aback by corn dogs, Tilt-a-Whirls, and ring-toss games like young kids. High-concept meets mass entertainment in this great mashup. And Richter provides a nice perspective about philosophizing about life and practically applying a solution.

In this short play, wistfulness and wanting are kept in check by self-constructed obstacles that stop any chances at connection and progress.

The characters in "Snow" might be deluding themselves into feeling loneliness and desperate need are lovely, tragic but lovely, states of being. Their reasoning is beautiful like the snow that's falling during the action here. But there are ways to make it through the snow; are there ways for Chuck, Ed, Frankie, and Sara to push through what holds them back?

Credit Adam Szymkowicz for creating finely detailed characters and establishing an atmosphere so well in "Snow."

Part-travelogue, part-quest, wholly unique.

I love the amount of detail Dominica Plummer has put into "Marcus and Sextus Take a Bloody Walk Around London" -- I feel like I've gotten a small glimpse of the city as the characters make their journey. That depth of insight would make this play fantastic on its own. But Plummer doubles up by creating a life-and-death scenario for her characters, which is marvelously researched.

I'd love to attend a site-specific production of this short play. Plummer has a genuine winner here with its story, characters, and "whoa" factor.

Claudia Haas shows that when a myriad of emotions crashes through our bodies, a single positive catalyst can make everything seem so much better.

Eva, the protagonist in "A Kiss is Just a Kiss," is a wonderful role for a female actor as she has more -- often conflicting -- desires in this play than eclectic items in her bottomless purse. Feelings of longing, grief, anger, joy rapidly play off one another like microbursts. As we learn how she's lived her life, we realize she deserves some promise of possibilities.