Diamonds in the Rough

ARTS AND CULTURE

We pick the best from a so-so season.

By J. Cooper Robb

Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted Jul. 4, 2007

Caroline, or Change

It wasn't a great year for Philadelphia-area theater. Theatergoers were subjected to conventional plays and productions that stirred only a modicum of thought and elicited little excitement. The plays that did attempt to challenge and provoke were often either deadly dull or annoyingly didactic.

There were, however, a number of productions and artists that rose above this trough of mediocrity to produce dynamic and rewarding theater. Leading the way were two shows focusing on race relationships: the Lantern Theater Company's magnificently intimate staging of Athol Fugard's powerful drama "Master Harold" ... and the Boys and the Arden Theatre Company's thrilling production of Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori's explosive musical Caroline, or Change.

Here's a list of the artists and shows that succeeded in reminding us in 2006 and 2007 that theater can be simultaneously entertaining and enriching.

Top 10 productions

Beauty Is (Hotel Obligado)

Caroline, or Change (Arden Theatre Company)

Cell (Headlong Dance Theater)

Emergence-See (Freedom Repertory Theatre)

Glengarry Glen Ross (Theatre Exile)

"Master Harold" ... and the Boys (Lantern Theater Company)

Nerds:// A Musical Software Satire (Philadelphia Theatre Company)

Of Mice and Men (Walnut Street Theatre)

The Fantasticks (Mum Puppettheatre)

The Pillowman (Wilma Theater)

Honorable mention: Humble Boy (People's Light & Theatre Company), Far Away (Flashpoint Theatre Company), Kiss of the Spider Woman (InterAct Theatre Company), La Ronde (Lantern Theater Company)

Best play: "Master Harold" ... and the Boys

Best musical: Caroline, or Change

Best director, play: David O'Connor ("Master Harold" ... and the Boys)

Honorable mention: Jiri Zizka (The Pillowman), Walter Dallas (Emergence-See)

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