The Best of Theater 2023

Theater District South—the Boston Center for the Arts, the Huntington and the Lyric Stage—had a banner year in 2023. Some of last year's best work included productions at these venues focusing on Israel, Jewish heritage, and anti-Semitism. The Israel-set Tony Award musical "The Band's Visit"—a SpeakEasy Stage-Huntington collaboration at the BCA—disarmingly called for understanding between Israelis and Egyptians. The immigrant experience of an assimilating if long-successful Jewish family made for striking insight in the Huntington premiere of the Tony Award play "The Lehman Trilogy." Jewish playwright Joshua Harmon's provocative drama "Prayer for the French Republic", now deservedly on Broadway (at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre through February 18), explored anti-Semitism through the experiences and challenges of a Parisian Jewish family.

Elsewhere, at the Emerson Colonial Theatre Brookline-bred multi-talent Alex Edelman balanced edgy comedy and candid observations about hatred chronicling an undercover stint with white supremacists. There were also strong local revivals of works by such major theater forces as Tony Kushner, August Wilson, Paula Vogel, Larry Kramer, Lorraine Hansberry and Stephen Sondheim, with fresh examination of such themes as diversity, racism, homophobia, sexual abuse and violence. While financial problems confronted Watertown's worthy now-closed New Repertory Theatre, Arrow Street Arts is renovating Cambridge's Oberon, a transformation inaugurated with a razor, sharp Moonbox Productions revival of "Sweeney Todd. Both Moonbox and the estimable Hub Theatre Company of Boston have lately gained well-deserved attention in Theater District South at the Boston Center for the Arts.

Here, in alphabetical order, is this critic's list of the best area theater of 2023:

Angels in America, Parts I and II (Central Square Theater and Bedlam)—Eddie Shields led this riveting edition of Kushner's epic master work.

Assassins (Lyric Stage Company of Boston)—Sondheim may have steered clear of preachy material, but Lyric Stage's resonant revival spoke volumes about easy access to weapons at gun shows and the discontent of lone wolves.

Fat Ham (The Huntington in association with The Alliance Theatre and Front Porch Arts Collective)—Fresh characterizations and clever biblical allusions informed this lively variation on Hamlet.

How I Learned to Drive (Actors' Shakespeare Project)—Vogel's cautionary play was sometimes darkly humorous and always arresting in this haunting revival.

Prayer for the French Republic (The Huntington)—The Huntington's powerful staging well served Harmon's compelling food for thought about the precarious situation of the world's third largest Jewish community—and, by extension, of American Jews as well.

Real Women Have Curves (American Repertory Theatre—through January 21, 2024 )-This pre-Broadway staging has very real talent—especially a crack exuberant cast and Benjamin Velez's affecting music Hispanic women matter terrifically in this important adaptation of the historic film.

Seven Guitars (Actors' Shakespeare Project)—ASP brought loving attention to August Wilson's poetry-rich dialogue and his commanding examination of African-American dreams and possibilities.

The Band's Visit (SpeakEasy Stage Company and The Huntington)—Paul Daigneault, arguably the Hub's finest director, captured the musical's beautiful understatement as well as its spirit of place. Vocally gifted Jared Troilo rendered the Israeli father's lullaby with notable tenderness.

The Lehman Trilogy (The Huntington)—The projected kaddish in this singular staging hovered like a Damoclean sword over the hubris of the Lehmans in Stefano Massini's arresting family tragedy.

The Normal Heart (New Repertory Theatre)—Larry Kramer's rage against mayoral and presidential apathy in the age of AIDS caught fire in this visceral revival.

Best Tours: Hamilton, Into the Woods (Broadway in Boston)

Outstanding Solo Work: Just for Us (ATG Colonial)

Honorable Mentions:

A Raisin in the Sun (New Repertory Theatre)

Book of Will (Hub Theatre Company)

Evita (A.R.T.)

Macbeth (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company)

Stew (Gloucester Stage)

Sweeney Todd (Moonbox Productions)

The House of Ramon Iglesia (Moonbox Productions)