The American Dream and The Sandbox (WingSpan Theatre Company) : Director Susan Sargeant took two relatively early, related pieces by Edward Albee and imagined them in a way that made them fresh, relevant, accessible and very amusing. The cast was sharp, poised, dedicated, transcending the two-dimensional nature of the characters while still keeping the facetious demeanor in tact. 

 

Brighton Beach Memoirs (Contemporary Theatre of Dallas) : In this heartfelt, often wry comedy by Neil Simon, CTD found a pitch perfect project for their strengths. With Andrews Cope leading the way (and Cindee Mayfield as the raw and genuine matriarch) they created a poignant, richly comic narrative that was vibrant and deeply affecting. 

 

Charm (Kitchen Dog Theater) : In a radiant and fetching turn, Tina Parker was compelling, amusing, and whimsical as the sybaritic and formidable Margaret Fuller. You can’t help admiring how confident, entertaining, resourceful, and convincing Cahill’s biographical show truly is, without being didactic or exploitative or pointing fingers. Charm wasn’t about brandishing spectacle but instead, a magical balancing act of the grotesque, hilarious, frustrating, thrilling, introspective, and dreamy. 

Closer to Heaven  (Uptown Players) : Uptown courageously chose this show, transcending edginess or spectacle (though it had these qualities) exploiting a delicious, predatory sensuality. Closer to Heaven had numerous surprises and incisive, overwhelming, painfully genuine moments. It didn’t take refuge in pandering to expectations or manufactured homilies. Director Bruce Coleman took a story submerged in bestiality and squalor and uncovered a chalice brimming with raw yearning, sorrow and unvarnished care. It is one of most brilliant, unforgettable experiences I’ve had in the theatre in a very long time 

 

Dark of the Moon (Level Ground Arts) : Dark of the Moon was a richly involving, startling, captivating drama (interwoven with lively hymns and folk music) that challenged preconceived notions about romance, virtue, true charity, and the distinction between raw spiritual longing and religion. The more you partake of a medium, the less often you’re surprised. Happily, I doubt I could have felt more caught out, moved and saddened by this show. 

The Dog Problem (Undermain Theatre) : As with other brilliant playwrights, Rabe has created a play that feels intuitive and effortless. On a par with their usual level of excellence, Undermain assembled a cast (guided by the direction of Katharine Owens) that was scintillating, subtle and keen as a scalpel. They took pleasure and authenticity to new levels and snapped like a bullwhip. The Dog Problem was very funny, very strange, and very, very, sad. It was astonishing. This is cutting-edge, remarkable theater. 

 

Equus (Uptown Players) : Originally presented in 1973 on a bare space, surrounded by three benches in a semicircle, Bruce Coleman brought his own unique, intensely moving vision to Equus, turning the stage into a pagan altar and the characters (in contemporary clothing) into interlopers. Only Alan, disrobed, and the horses and priests seemed to belong there. Whether or not you believe the ordeal of Alan Strang justified the grandiose treatment the text received, Coleman made these themes:  the majesty of horses, the grace and torment of virility, the need for guidance from a supreme deity, human misery, urgent and implacable.

 

Everything in the Garden (Rover DramaWerks) : Albee’s plots often carry that dreamlike quality of making the mundane terrifying and the terrifying mundane. Appropriate tone is positively essential . In Albee’s fantasy land of bourgeois opulence, the appearance of class and props necessary for sustaining it are crucial. Director Lisa Devine brought her impeccable touch to this subtly volatile material, walking the precarious dividing line between dark social satire and disingenuous bathos. She guided the cast through this dark (strangely giddy) territory with agility and precision. The actors submerged in their roles and the effect was stunning and unnerving. This was ensemble work of the highest degree.  

 

Lobster Alice (Second Thought Theatre) : The world changes when you fall in love. Everything takes on a luster. A frothy, giddy energy. Director Jeffrey Schmidt (and cast) must possess a special quality to have managed the fluid playfulness, eccentricity and high octane hi-jinks called for in Lobster Alice, a subversive, dizzy romp that leaves “over the top” in the dust. It was a supple, bouncy, mind-bending, frenetic fantasia where linear and the trippy, blissy, sybaritic defiance of intuitive logic intersected into a punch-drunk, dada joyfest for grown ups. 

 

The Pinter Trilogy :  PINTER : Art, Politics, Truth (Upstart Productions) Upstart chose three one acts (Celebration, One for the Road, A Kind of Alaska) by Harold Pinter to comprise this brilliant, harrowing, intense triptych of vibrant drama. Like numerous other artists, Pinter attempts to capture the truth of a situation by pointing to its reflection or some other manifestation of its process. Upstart used Pinter’s enigmatic, obtuse approach to its fullest advantage. The directors and actors were scintillating and totally involved. Upstart Productions is doing some of the most important theatre you will find in this or any other city. They are taking chances, they are putting time, energy, conviction and intelligence into creating theatre that embraces truth at any cost.