Best of Theater 2025

At a time when authoritarian agendas threaten to destroy the American experiment, the best area productions of 2025 have largely focused on DEI. Both outstanding plays and musicals — visiting as well as home grown —have given important attention to the concerns of ethnically diverse as well as physically challenged and LGBTQ Americans.

With some of the strongest efforts movingly dealing with the full meaning of Emma Lazarus' anthem — like the call to "huddled masses" on the Statue of Liberty, theatergoers have seen timely and resonant productions bringing dignity and important insight to immigrants and often marginalized Americans particularly in the face of antisemitism and other forms of hatred.

This year's visiting plays and musicals have often probed these themes with equally compelling results. The best of these stagings have ranged from Tony Award, winning musicals to very sharp original solo works. As in previous years, I am presenting my best list in two parts, area and visiting, to do full justice to the year's finest productions.

The following are this critic's choices for 2025:

AREA STAGINGS

A Man of No Importance (SpeakEasy Stage Company) - Eddie Shields in a brilliant portrayal of an English bus driver coming to terms with his true identity.

Blood Brothers (Theater Uncorked) - Sehnaz Dirik haunting as a mother making a Greek tragedy — like sacrifice involving two very different twins.

Fun Home (The Huntington) - A stellar cast as good in its own way as the Tony Award winning one in director Logan Ellis' very fresh conception.

Jaja's African Hair Braiding (SpeakEasy Stage Company) - A riveting ensemble portraying immigrants from Africa striving for acceptance in a disarming play with a closing theatrical punch.

The Beautiful Land (Teatro Chelsea) - A stirring celebration of Puerto Rico and an important reminder of its worthiness.

The Glass Menagerie (Gloucester Stage Company) - A spellbinding revival that would easily impress Tennessee Williams himself.

The Hills of California (The Huntington) - An artful staging of a tricky family — focused Jez Butterworth play with a Broadway caliber design.

The Light in the Piazza (The Huntington) - A beautifully designed production actually superior to the multiple Tony Award - winning musical's earlier tour and truer to the Lincoln Center original.

The Piano Lesson (Actors' Shakespeare Project) - Another masterful ASP version of an August Wilson gem with a powerhouse lead performance by Omar Robinson.

Tick,Tick...Boom! (Umbrella Stage) - An exuberant production of Jonathan Larson's important effort before "Rent."

Honorable Mention

Ain't No Mo (SpeakEasy Stage Company and Front Porch Arts Collective), Crowns (Moon Box Productions), Featherbaby (Greater Boston Stage Company), Her Portmanteau (Central Square Theater and Front Porch Arts Collective), learning how to read by moonlight (Chuang Stage and Company One Theatre), Mother Mary (Boston Playwrights Theatre), Our Town (Lyric Stage Company), Summer, 1976 (Central Square Theater), The Garbologists (Gloucester Stage Company), The Meeting Tree (Company One Theatre), The Mountaintop (Front Porch Arts Collective in collaboration with Suffolk University Modern Theatre)

VISITING PRODUCTIONS

Hamilton (Broadway in Boston), Kimberly Akimbo (Broadway in Boston, Our Class (Arlekin Players Theatre), Parade (Ambassador Theater Group), Sardines (Presented by The Huntington), 300 Paintings (Presented by American Repertory Theater).

Honorable Mention

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (Broadway in Boston), Kim's Convenience (Adam Blanshay Productions Presents Soul Pepper Theatre Company in association with American Conservatory Theater), Passengers (7 Fingers presented by American Repertory Theater), Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York presented by American Repertory Theater).