Looking back over more than 100 shows seen since January, the greater Boston stage had a better than average year, though Sugan and the Theatre Coop went on hiatus midyear and there was conscious belt-tightening overall. 2006 was the year of the solo show in any case, starting with Sugan's penultimate presentation, "Tom Crean, Antartic Explorer." Jay Johnson brought his "Two and Only" biographical show into Zero Arrow at the end of the summer, after which he went on to Broadway, and is now headed back out on the road.
This fall there was a bumper crop, starting with Jonathan Epstein doing a short run of David Hare's "Via Dolorosa" at Brandeis before continuing out at Berkshire. Stan Strickland had a music-based jazzography "Coming Up For Air" in the BCA Black Box followed by Diego Arciniegas channeling "Thom Pain" in the New Rep's new Downstage space at the Arsenal. Marty McGuire brought Mari Jones' "A Night In November" to Jimmy Tingle's Off-Broadway for a run which was extended several times. Lanna Joffrey made Heather Raffo's "Nine Parts of Desire" a centerpiece of the Lyric's fall season, which also brought Avner Eisenberg's perennial "Exceptions to Gravity" in for the holidays. And finally, John Kuntz put on an elf suit once again for "Santaland Diaries" also Downstage at the New Rep.
Full length plays were well represented. Speakeasy did Donald Margolis' semi-autobiographical "Brooklyn Boy" while the African-American Theatre Festival premiered Jacqui Parker's "Dark As A Thousand Midnights." Both shows were done with strong casts at the Robert's Studio in the new Calderwood Pavilion at the BCA. The New Rep did a chilling production of Bryony Lavery's "Frozen" with another compelling performance by Nancy Carroll. Lyric gave Paula Plum a major triumph in Edward Albee's "The Goat or Who is Sylvia?" The ART had Seattle's Jerry Mouawad recreate his production of Jean-Paul Sartre's "No Exit" on a tilting stage with Will Lebow, Karen MacDonald, and Paula Plum as the doomed trio. The show was redone again later in the season at the Hartford Stage.
Over the summer, the Publick Theatre bravely ran Michael Frayn's Copenhagen outdoors with Barry Press, Gabriel Kuttner, and Susanne Nitter directed by Diego Arciniegas. Nitter, Arciniegas, and Kuttner will try their hand this coming January indoor doing Noel Coward's "Design for Living" directed by Spiro Veloudos. In the fall, the New Rep did Martin McDonagh's ultraviolent "The Pillowman" directed by Rick Lombardo with Steven Barkhimer and Philip Patrone tormenting John Kuntz while Scott Edmiston did Claire Booth Luce's vintage "The Women" for the Lyric with a sterling cast headed by Anne Gottlieb with Nancy Carroll, Maureen Keiller, and Aimee Doherty. The big premiere of the year was Theresa Rebeck's darkly comic melodrama "Mauritius" at the Huntington which is almost ready for prime-time, or at least Off-Broadway.
There was enough Shakespeare, but it was almost all "Hamlet," and almost enough to erase the memory of Commonwealth Shakespeare's overly innovative attempt the previous summer. Boston Theatre Works got Jonathan Epstein and Tony Molina to reprise roles they created for Lenox's Shakespeare & Co. in a new intimate production of "Othello." Aquila, under the aegis of the NEA, brought their 10 person touring version into the Majestic with too much teen angst. Trinity ran a somewhat controversial "Upstairs/Downstairs" interpretation. During the summer in the Berkshires, Shakespeare & Co. kept things in the family with Jason Aspery as Hamlet, his mother, Tina Packer as Gertrude, and his stepfather Dennis Krausnick as Polonius, but the pride of their summer was the Bankside Festival's tent production of Goldoni's "The Servant of Two Masters" featuring Michael Burnet.
In the fall, the Actors from the London Stage toured a full length five person rendition of "Hamlet" onto the Wellesley Campus. It was the most successful of the lot, though the Actors' Shakespeare Project did the Bard proud with Benjamin Evett in the title role in a unique production at the Strand. The New Rep will be sending a small cast version around to the schools this coming spring after a successful tour of the Scottish play this year with Michael Brophy as the Thane. The Huntington did their first Shakespeare in a long time with a pleasant Edwardian production of "Love's Labours' Lost" and Commonwealth tried "The Taming of the Shrew" updated for the North End. CSC will probably have to find a new home this summer since the Boston Common is undergoing extensive repair and renovation starting in Spring 2007.
Performances of note included "Five by Tenn," Scott Edmiston's compilation of short pieces spanning Tennesee Williams' writing career, Hovey Player's produced "Liasons Dangeruse" and found its emotional core the Huntington missed earlier in the season. Stoneham Theatre had success with another literary adaptation, John Irving's "A Prayer for Owen Meany" with a remarkable performance by Ken Schatz as the boy with the ruined voice. Beau Jest reappeared briefly with a show "Samurai 7.0" inspired by films such as "The Seven Samurai" and "The Magnificent Seven."
Political commentary came to the fore, not only in three solo shows, "Via Dolorosa", "Nine Parts of Desire" and "A Night in November," but first in the Theatre Cooperative's last show, Vladimir Zelevinsky's "Manifest Destiny", a new play about coming to America. Two British imports, Robin Soans' "Talking to Terrorists," Sugan's farewell production in the BCA Plaza, and David Hare's "Stuff Happens" done in the BCA Black Box took a look at basis for the world's current dilemma. Soans' show, which took a broader view formed an interesting contrast to Hare's attempt to skewer the Bush administration with a swipe at Tony Blair. The latter was extended; Soans' play wasn't.
Musicals remained a strong part of the theatre scene, starting with North Shore's revival of "Ain't Misbehavin'" with a strong cast in which Trinity's IRNE winner Joe Wilson Jr. shown. Speakeasy, with NSMT's backing, presented Tony Kuschner and Jeanine Tesori's sung-through "Caroline or Change" starring versatile Jacqui Parker. The New Rep ended its spring with Ahrens & Flaherty's "Ragtime" based on Doctrow's tome. Leigh Barrett was predictably outstanding as Mother and newcomer Stephanie Umoh made a smashing debut, which she followed up this fall as Bubbly for Speakeasy. Early in the fall, Metro Stage which has steadily been improving scored with William Finn's "A New Brain," just before a new production of "The 23 Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" settled in at the Wilbur. The latter closed just before New Year's, probably a bit earlier than expected. The most interesting small production was Animus Ensemble's reimagining of "Little Shop of Horrors" in which director John Ambrosino replaced the Audrey II puppet(s) with veteran Boston rocker Neil Chapman and a set of backup dancers.
2006 was a good year. Let's hope theatre survives the continuing social and economic turmoil. The Boston Stage has improved in general quality over the last decade but fewer producers may be willing to give it a go, which does not bode well for the pool of dedicated actors currently available.