criticalrant.com Alexandra Bonifield

Best productions, ranked by preference. Criteria include: text merit, director’s vision, integration of design elements, ensemble effect, innovative, dynamic use of space, accessibility for audiences, development of character arcs that adhere to playwright’s intent. Any one of the top five productions could have ended up in the #1 slot. Thoroughly entertaining and illuminating.

D. Lance Marsh’s City Rep cast poses on the Burg Theatre set of “The Importance of Being Earnest” at Oklahoma City University

1. The Taming of the Shrew (Trinity Shakespeare Festival) by William Shakespeare, T.J.Walsh, director
2. Glory Denied (Fort Worth Opera) by Tom Cipullo, Dean Anthony, director
3. The Importance of Being Earnest (Oklahoma City Repertory Company) by Oscar Wilde, D. Lance Marsh, director
4. Happy Days (WingSpan Theatre) by Samuel Beckett, Susan Sargeant, director
5. A Raisin in the Sun (Dallas Theater Center) by Lorraine Hansberry, Tre Garrett, director
6. The Taming of the Shrew (Stage West) by William Shakespeare, Jim Covault, director
7. I Am A Teacher: A Trilogy, David Marquis — playwright/ performer/advocate, directed by John L. Davies, Shelby-Allison Hibbs and Ellen Locy
8. The Game’s Afoot (WaterTower Theatre) by Ken Ludwig, Robin Armstrong, director
9. Hamlet (Fun House Theatre and Film) by William Shakespeare, Jeff Swearingen adaptor/director
10. Jailbait (Dallas Actors Lab) by Deirdre O’Connor, Dylan Key, director

Best Overall Acting Performances of 2013:

• 

  Randy Pearlman in THE GAME’S AFOOT at WaterTower Theatre

  Stephanie Dunnam in Happy Days by Samuel Beckett, at WingSpan Theatre, Susan Sargeant, director

• Randy Pearlman in The Game’s Afoot by Ken Ludwig, at Water Tower Theatre, Robin Armstrong, director

Most Innovative Young Artist: Jeff Colangelo. See www.sihkbrothers.com/playtime. A recent SMU graduate, Colangelo combines clean acting chops with a whimsical flair for fight choreography, bringing a fresh, tight dynamic to the region’s often ho-hum predictable physical theatre realm. In his original work playtime performed at the Magnolia Lounge, he generated unexpected suspense with a “hyper martial pillow fight”. He also directed the fight choreography for Cara Mia’s Romeo and Julieta, creating stage moments with sophisticated organic flow and raw, voracious energy that promise something special to come. Whither goest thou next?

Best Acting Performances by Men, 2013, not ranked:

Mike Hathaway in ASSASSINS at Onstage in Bedford

• Michael Mayes Glory Denied (Fort Worth Opera)
• Chris Rodenbaugh Hamlet (Fun House Theatre and Film)
• Chris Hury The Taming of the Shrew (Stage West)
• Elias Taylorson Of Mice and Men, TheTale of The Allergist’s Wife (Theatre Arlington)
• Joey Folsom Hank Williams: Lost Highway (WaterTower Theatre)
• Jeff Swearingen Jailbait (Dallas Actors’ Lab); Dinosaur and Robot Stop A Train (Audacity Theatre Lab)
• Chuck Huber The Taming of the Shrew (Trinity Shakespeare Festival)
• Michael Jones The Importance of Being Earnest (Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre)
• D. Lance Marsh RED (Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre)
• Mike Hathaway Assassins (Onstage in Bedford)

Best Acting Performances by Women, 2013, not ranked:

Catherine DuBord and Miller Pike in MATT and BEN at Echo Theatre

• Marianne Galloway Children of a Lesser God (Contemporary Theatre of Dallas)
• Horde of Girl Actors The Daffodil Girls (Fun House Theatre and Film)
• Katherine DuBord Lydie Marland in the Afterlife (WingSpan Theatre) by Isabella Russell-Ides; Matt and Ben (Echo Theatre) by Mindy Kaling and Brenda Withers
• Miller Pike Matt and Ben (Echo Theatre)
• Mikaela Krantz Jailbait (Dallas Actors Lab); Hank Williams: Lost Highway (WaterTower Theatre)
• Cindee Mayfield Lydie Marland in the Afterlife (WingSpan Theatre); Other Desert Cities (Theatre Three); The Tale of The Allergist’s Wife (Theatre Arlington)
• Alison Pistorius The Taming of the Shrew (Stage West)
• Trisha Miller The Taming of the Shrew (Trinity Shakespeare Festival)
• Liz Mikel A Raisin In the Sun (Dallas Theater Center)
• Tiffany Hobbs (A Raisin In the Sun (Dallas Theater Center); Clybourne Park (Dallas Theater Center)

 Best Props: The chairs in Ionesco’s The Chairs at Kitchen Dog Theater

 Best Costume Design: Ryan Matthieu Smith — The Lucky Chance, or The Alderman’s Bargain by Aphra Benn (Echo Theatre), Nine (Lyric Stage) and Romeo and Julieta by William Shakespeare (Cara Mia Theatre). Some designers play with bigger budgets. Few create costumes that support characters’ inner lives and outer expressions quite as well.

Costumes by Ryan-Matthieu Smith  in “The Lucky Chance” at Echo Theatre

 Best Set Design:  Brian Clinnin, Julius Caesar (Trinity Shakespeare Festival). So tactile and tantalizing I’m drawn on stage to touch!

Set by Brian Clinnin: JULIUS CAESAR, Trinity Shakespeare Festival

 Best Blend of Arts and Multi-Cultural Advocacy: Cara Mia Theatre Company, The Dreamers and Romeo and Julieta

THE DREAMERS at Cara Mia Theatre Company