The Year in Review

Boston Theater Makes a Remarkable Comeback

Wide-ranging diversity dominated a real return for theater and audiences in 2022. Strong revivals, premieres, visiting fare and pre-Broadway tryouts brought deserving attention to the work of such important talents as Lynn Nottage, Harvey Fierstein, Samuel Beckett and August Wilson .Wilson received fitting extra attention as Huntington Theatre—which regularly showcased his 20th century- spanning canon—named the lobby of its handsomely renovated main stage for this late great dramatist and inaugurated its return with his masterful "Joe Turner's Come and Gone." There were thoughtful one-person plays like "What the Constitution Means to Me" and Alanna Mitchell's uncompromising climate change examination "Sea Sick" (both presented by Arts Emerson). The Emerson Colonial Theatre hosted "A Beautiful Noise," a striking Neil Diamond-centered new musical with a terrific lead performance by Will Swenson.

Education took center stage in very different but provocative plays—the SpeakEasy Stage Company premiere of Iran-set "English" and Huntington Theatre's Boston-focused "Common Ground." Spirited women—the real life pre-computer pioneer Ada Lovelace in "Ada and the Machine "(Central Square Theater), a Black executive in "Fabulation" (Lyric Stage Company of Boston) and a home front director during World War Two in "Into the Breeches"(Hub Theatre Company of Boston)--gained spirited focus.

In a gratifyingly busy year, the following is this critic's list of the best of 2022:

A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder (Lyric Stage Company)—Jared Troilo proved a vocal standout as the gentleman murderer and Neil A. Casey fully embodied all of his victims.

Joe Turner's Come and Gone (Huntington Theatre)—Huntington Theatre returned to this powerful Pittsburgh-set look at the spiritual and personal quests of diverse African-Americans with great feeling and a commanding performance by James Milord.

Life of Pi (American Repertory Theatre, running through January 29,2023 before Broadway, beginning in March)—Storytelling and sublime puppetry—evoking an orangutan, a zebra, a hyena and especially a tiger named Richard Parker, among others—combined for the title youth's riveting rite of passage and a Rashomon—like investigation of truth and reality.

Mr. Parent (Lyric Stage)—Gifted actor Maurice Emmanuel Parent captured his challenging stint as a Boston public school teacher and insightfully commented on Hub education in a one-man tour de force sharply penned by Melinda Lopez.

On Beckett (Arts Emerson)—Bill Irwin, with the ease of a master actor and the flair of an inspired clown, presented excerpts from well-known and lesser-known works in a one-man exploration of the playwright's remarkable range.

The Chinese Play (Central Square Theater)—This disarming play called into question the manipulation of an actual young 19th century Chinese immigrant brought to the United States in an unusual 'show' that exploited stereotypes.

The Inheritance (SpeakEasy Stage Company)—Eddie Shields was electrifyingly moving as Jewish gay protagonist Eric Glass in the year's most ambitious staging—a two-part, six hour plus Tony Award-winning adaptation of the E.M.Forster masterwork "Howard's End."

To Kill a Mockingbird (Broadway in Boston)—Richard Thomas found all of Atticus Finch's humanity in an adaptation of the Harper Lee classic that intriguingly avoids easy adulation for the prejudice-battling defense attorney

Torch Song (Moonbox Productions at the Boston Center for the Arts)—Peter Mill as gay Jewish drag queen Arnold Beckoff and Bobbie Steinbach as his judgmental but caring mother are explosively good in this emotionally rich revival of Harvey Fierstein's Tony Award play.

Twilight, Los Angeles,1992—Five superb actors brought the many interviewees of this Anna Deavere Smith still-timely exploration of ethnic and racial conflict to vivid life.

Honorable Mention
A Beautiful Noise(Emerson Colonial Theatre), Ada and the Engine(Central Square Theater),Grand Horizons (Gloucester Stage Company) ,In the Breeches (Hub Theatre Company of Boston), Little Women (Greater Boston Stage Company) , Macbeth (Merrimack Repertory Theatre), Much Ado About Nothing (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company), What the Constitution Means to Me (Arts Emerson).