Village Voicecritics and Obie judges Michael Feingold and Alexis Soloski, as well as regular contributors and guest Obie judges Eric Grode and Andy Propst, will have their say about their season’s favorites when the Obie Awards are announced on Monday night, May 18, at Webster Hall. Tune back then for news on all the honorees. In the meantime, we asked some of the Voice’s other regular critics to name their own favorite productions of the 2008-2009 season (plays seen from last May until the start of this May). Below, their Top 10 lists. (Feel free to add your own Top 10 rankings in the “comments” section.)
GARRETT EISLER
1. Billy Elliot, by Lee Hall and Elton John, Imperial Theatre
2. All My Sons, by Arthur Miller, Gerald Shoenfeld Theatre
3. Blasted, by Sarah Kane, Soho Rep
4. The Good Negro, by Tracey Scott Wilson, the Public Theater
5. Hair, by James Rado, Gerome Ragni, and Galt MacDermot, Al Hirschfeld Theatre
6. Mary Stuart, by Friedrich Schiller, Broadhurst Theatre
7. Ruined, by Lynn Nottage, Manhattan Theatre Club
8. Power, by Arthur Arent, Metropolitan Playhouse
9. The Strangerer, by Mickle Maher, Barrow Street Theatre
10. Speed-the-Plow (William H. Macy edition), by David Mamet, Barrymore Theatre
ROB WEINERT-KENDT
1. Port Authority, by Conor McPherson, the Atlantic Theater
2. Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, by August Wilson, Belasco Theatre
3. Our Town, by Thorton Wilder, Barrow Street Theatre
4. Becky Shaw, Gina Gionfriddo, Second Stage Theatre
5. The Seagull, by Anton Chekhov, Walter Kerr Theatre
6. Bash’d, by Chris Craddock and Nathan Cuckow, the Zipper
7. Waiting for Godot, by Samuel Becket, MTC/Studio 54
8. Ruined, by Lynn Nottage, at Manhattan Theatre Club
9. This Beautiful City, by the Civilians, the Vineyard Theatre
10. Road Show, by Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman, the Public Theater
TOM SELLAR
New York companies:
1. S.O.S.by Jemma Nelson/Big Art Group, the Kitchen
2. Astronome: A Night at the Opera by Richard Foreman and John Zorn, Ontological-Hysteric Theater
3. Telephone,by Ariana Reines, the Foundry Theatre at the Cherry Lane
4. Rambo Solo, by Kelly Copper, Pavol Liska, and Zachary Oberzan/Nature Theater of Oklahoma at Soho Rep
5. Chair, by Edward Bond, Theatre for a New Audience at the Duke on 42nd Street
International productions:
1. Factory 2and Persona, directed and adapted by Krystian Lupa, Stary Teatr, Krakow, Poland
2. Faust,by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, directed by Silviu Purcarete, National Theatre of Romania, Sibiu, Romania
3. Witness to the Ruins, Mapa Teatro (Colombia), presented at Yale Repertory Theatre
4. To Be Straight With You, conceived and directed by Lloyd Newson, DV8 (UK), presented at Peak Performances, Montclair State University, New Jersey
5. Opening Night, by John Cassavetes, adapted and directed by Ivo van Hove, Toneelgroep Amsterdam and NTGent, presented at BAM
