It’s 12/12/12—what better time to throw off the shackles of a constraining year-end
top-ten list and instead embrace a format that’s (slightly) more forgiving? After
a year in which Kathleen Turner adopted a Texan accent, George Hamilton played it
not-so-straight, Edward Gero painted hundreds of blood-red canvases in two minutes,
and Basil Twist finally got his Washington close-up, all we can say is that this was
a mighty hard compilation to pull together. Excuses aside, behold our list of the
top 12 plays of 2012.
1)
Black Watch / The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart at Shakespeare
Theatre
There’s little more we can say about Shakespeare Theatre’s efforts to bring the National
Theatre of Scotland to Washington other than that we love it. From the “heartbreakingly
compelling”
Black Watch to the “beer-soaked, camaraderie-laden”
Prudencia Hart, the company gave us two risky, creative, thought-provoking plays this year. Please
come back again.
2)
Red at Arena Stage
Great things can happen when two esteemed companies collaborate.
Red, a production of John Logan’s Tony-winning play about Mark Rothko presented in conjunction
with Chicago’s Goodman Theatre, was one of them.
3)
Gidion’s Knot at the Contemporary American Theater
Festival
The best play we saw at the Contemporary American Theater Festival in Shepherdstown,
Johnna Adams’s gripping tale of a mother facing up to her child’s isolation is one
that will hopefully get staged in Washington sooner rather than later.
4)
The Normal Heart at Arena Stage
Larry Kramer’s play, presented almost three decades after it was first staged in the
midst of the AIDS crisis, is no less shocking and relevant today. George C. Wolfe’s
production, starring Patrick Breen, Patricia Wettig, and Luke McFarlane, made for
“unbelievably powerful theater.”
5)
Really Really at Signature
Theatre
Signature proved it has the chops for more than just musicals with this bleakly funny,
caustic play about Generation Me, a world premiere by Paul Downs Colaizzo directed
by Matthew Gardiner.
6)
Astro Boy and the God of Comics at Studio
Theatre
Described as a “high/low-tech multimedia extravaganza,” Natsu Onoda Power’s ingenious
riff on the world of Japanese manga comics brought “gobs of energy and wit to an unusual
enterprise.”
7)
The Animals and Children Took to the Streets at Studio
Theatre
One of the most creative of the season, this fusion of theater and animation from
London’s 1927 was a “gorgeous, sugar-spun concoction” that combined the best of P.L.
Travers,
Amélie, and Edward Gorey.
8)
Mr Burns, a Post-Electric Play at Woolly
Mammoth
A play about the Simpsons in a post-apocalyptic world might sound like something the
Woolly team dreamed up after one too many shots of mezcal, but this world premiere
of Anne Washburn’s play was funny, hopeful, and brilliantly acted.
9)
Ah, Wilderness at
Arena Stage /
Strange Interlude at Shakespeare
Theatre
The 2012 Eugene O’Neill Festival gave audiences the chance to see a good number of
the playwright’s works, including the gentle, sweetly innocent
Ah, Wilderness, and Michael Kahn’s mercifully pared-down production of
Strange Interlude.
10) Basil Twist Festival
Whether it was
Arias With a Twist
at Woolly Mammoth or
Petrushka at
Shakespeare,
puppeteer Basil Twist showcased his mind-bending, deeply
theatrical style this spring.
11)
Our Class at Theater J
A three-hour play about a hideous crime against humanity is an intimidating task for
any director. Derek Goldman’s production, with a sterling ensemble cast and deceptively
simple design elements, made this one of the best plays of the season.
12)
The Illusion at Forum
Theatre
This Mitchell Hébert-directed production of Tony Kushner’s 1988 play was a “dazzling,
discomfiting” spectacle and a testament to the actor and director’s multiple skills.
What shows did you love this year? Let us know in the comments.
