Oprah was right: Gratitude rules.
In an effort to take stock of this last year in theater, I ended up not with a "best-of" list (too subjective by a mile) so much as a retroactive gratitude journal for all the good work done in 2024.
Combing through my Leaning Tower of Programs, I reflected on how much I'd seen (and even more that I missed -- forgive me, time is a finite resource). While not every show hit every mark, focusing on the following highlights reminded me why I love what I do.
Here's a look back at my 12 favorite Seattle-area theatrical experiences of the last year.
Memorable performances
Let's start with the individual performances that have stuck with me for months.
As part of a tight ensemble cast that passed their show's central role like a baton, MJ Sieber delivered a ferocious, bewildered performance in The Feast's fall production of "The Adding Machine," which incorporated AI into Elmer Rice's 1923 play about a man being rendered obsolete by technology. (As a bonus favorite, Sieber was also excellent as an equally bewildered divorced dad in "The Bed Trick" at Seattle Shakespeare Company, which leaned more into his always-impressive comedy chops.)
Alexander Kilian stopped my heart in its rhythm as the desperate, overburdened student Moritz in "Spring Awakening" at The 5th Avenue Theatre. Not only did his anguished, hopeful performance spark like a downed power line onstage, he nailed both the gawky physicality of a teenager and the difficult articulations in the rock score by Duncan Sheik.
At the much smaller-scale Theatre Off Jackson, Jessie Selleck sang like a baseball-playing angel in the gender-swapped lead role of Joe Hardy in September's "Damn Yankees" by Reboot Theatre Company. She's a performer I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for in the future.
On an even smaller scale, we had Mary Ewald's "Ages of Being," an evening of Shakespeare sonnets and speeches created in concert with her husband and director John Kazanjian, and performed in spring in their Capitol Hill home for an audience of a dozen. Grounded, honest and simple in her performance, Ewald created a sublimely intimate experience for those lucky enough to witness it.
Excellent ensembles
Sometimes an entire cast shines brighter than any individual performer, and such was the case for Eboni Booth's 2024 Pulitzer-winning play "Primary Trust," at Seattle Rep, directed by Kaytlin McIntyre. Though led by the excellent Stephen Tyrone Williams as Kenneth, a man with a traumatic history and an imaginary friend, Williams was ably aided by co-stars Andrew Lee Creech, Rob Burgess and Allyson Lee Brown, with Justin Huertas as an anonymous musician who shows up throughout the play. (This last one was kind of a mystifying choice, because why use Huertas without using Huertas, you know? But still, the ensemble was outstanding.)
While a two-hander doesn't exactly have an ensemble, the duo in Samuel D. Hunter's "A Case for the Existence of God" deserves laurels for both individual performances and their palpable connection as a pair. Conner Neddersen and Nathaniel Tenenbaum both delivered complex, emotionally detailed portrayals of two unlikely friends who bond over the complications of mortgages and parenthood.
Unforgettable shows
Then there are the excellent shows that you cannot separate into component parts. I left Sanaz Toossi's "English" at ArtsWest, a coproduction with Seda Iranian Theatre Ensemble, floating on air and filled with curiosity. Toossi's 2023 Pulitzer Prize-winning play centers on a group of students in Tehran studying for the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). When a production encourages you to think about your place in the world and expands your thinking about the world around you, what more could you want?
Similarly thought-provoking was the drag-theater "Threesome" at Sodo auto shop Repair Revolution, featuring Cherdonna Shinatra, Martha Graham Cracker and Jarbeaux. Together these three top-tier performers pushed themselves into new artistic territory, and the end result was a glittery, emotional and entirely unexpected evening of music, dance, drag and performance art.
And more
And finally, we have those unique individual elements or experiences that don't fit neatly into any category.
Immersive and/or interactive theater is a kind of third rail -- when done well it's an incredible experience but when it's bad, it is skin-crawling bad. Pony World Theatre's interactive preshow fun for "Edgar & Annabel" integrated interaction expertly. The play, about political revolutionaries living under the radar, lent itself well to the (totally optional) audience activities: sifting through evidence, listening to audio recordings, spotting anomalies on the kitchen-sink set. It was a genuine value-add to the experience of the show, and prepped the audience for a morelighthearted time than otherwise expected.
One of my most heartening days this year was spent at ACT Contemporary Theatre's annual stage management camp, which trains young people in the ways of an absolutely essential role in the live performing arts. Without stage managers, the show cannot go on. Rebuild that talent pipeline, baby!
Speaking of heartening: Did you hear that Book-It is back? After the emotional loss of the theater company in 2023, it was a joy to hear from co-founders Jane Jones and Myra Platt about their return to creating the work they love, and the logistical morass that many overhead-burdened theaters find themselves in, at the expense of their art.
Designers rarely get much space in reviews, but scenic designer Stephanie Kerley Schwartz's work on "The Skin of our Teeth" at Seattle Rep stood out in the best way. Realistic with touches of the cartoonish, evoking both cosmic expansiveness and workaday human intimacy, Schwartz's work elevated Thornton Wilder's complex, time-hopping play to satisfying heights.
Making art is hard, and being an artist is arguably harder, but our lives are all so much richer for the work that they do. In this last year, I've seen plays I've loved and plays I've hated, but I haven't seen much that made me feel nothing. So yes, I am grateful. And until we dive headfirst into the new year, I'm going to appreciate that.