Recommended by Steven G. Martin

Adam Szudrich has created a memorable character in Ester - a woman in her late 70s who is uncertain, giddy, witty, guilty, romantic, adventurous, and in pain. Read this short monologue and you'll immediately understand why it's been produced so often and received so many awards.

DC Cathro's script is painful enough for traditional theatre staging. I have to imagine that watching Marty's and Mack's faces up-close via video would be emotionally overwhelming. Yet producing a video performance of "Daddy Mack" is a perfect choice because of the story's circumstances.

This is a painful play. DC Cathro has written a life-altering moment that permanently obliterates innocence and romantic naïveté. Marty and Mack both are changed when the facts are plainly laid out, and I was left wondering how they would progress in their lives.

I'd love to watch "What Kind of God" performed because the characters' tone and emotion entirely shift in reaction to a simple, direct action. Rose's finely honed skill at objective, presentation-like dialogue carries the first three-fourths of the play, but the ending provides a brief glimpse of the tumultuous passion beneath. It's a subtle effect that would play beautifully on stage.

Brent Englar's "The Soapbox" is surprising, upsetting, but also recognizable via extrapolating the path society and government is taking. Its theatricality and conclusion make this one-act play immediate for audiences, and it leaves a lot of questions in its wake.

Englar has created a dystopian world dominated by a dull, gray, heavy, and lethargic power. Communication has broken down, very little of what is said is of interest, and any level of clamor or liveliness is harshly struck down. It's scary.

Tuchi's "Wandering, Whistling" instantly has become one of my favorite short plays, period.

The premise, the stakes, the theatricality jump off the page. Action -- and lack of it -- define the characters as much as the dialogue, and their emotions are so earnest. There are echoes of the third act of "Our Town" but the conclusion is entirely its own.

Produce this play, please. Your audiences, actors, directors, and designers will thank you.

This well-written play deserves its rich production history.

I love that the almost-unspoken tensions of "172 Push-Ups" make the play soar. Audiences don't know if this brief encounter will end well -- there are conflicts and connections throughout. But when the final resolution arrives, audiences will feel glad. Very well done, Scott Mullen.

A loving spoof of science-fiction entertainment. Williams includes so many references that even the most knowledgeable of fans will be overcome.

This 1-minute play makes me smile because Rinkel celebrates earnest optimism.

An insightful -- and a bit cringe-worthy -- minute of comedy. Ekstrand has written two characters who would be fun to perform, to direct, or to watch.