Play Them Again Theater Critics Look Back At Regional Plays And Pick Their Favorites

Now, here’s an excellent dilemma for a theater critic.

Three plays this season (two at Interplayers and one at the Spokane Civic Theatre) accomplished everything that the best theater should accomplish: They entertained, they enlightened, and they made us look more deeply at the way we live our own lives.

They were clustered at about the halfway point of a season in which I was beginning to despair that there would be even one play that would fill those criteria.

So, as you will see under “Best Plays,” I pulled a cop-out and chose all three. So sue me. Any one of these plays would have won in a less-rich year.

It’s time for the third annual edition of the Spokane Critic’s Choice awards. Two critics are hardly enough to make a roundtable, but here in the ‘95-96 season, we at least have been lucky enough to have Nick Heil of the Inlander on the theater beat all year. I present his choices here along with mine. (Neither of us knew what the other had picked when we made our choices.)

In addition to the standard categories, each of us chose a “wild card” category of our own selection, which are the final two.

Here are our 1995-96 Critic’s Choice picks:

Best Play

KERSHNER: A three-way tie. Neil Simon’s “Lost in Yonkers” at the Spokane Civic Theatre, Hugh Leonard’s “Da” at the Interplayers Ensemble and A.R. Gurney’s “The Old Boy” at Interplayers each restored my faith in the power of theater. Each of these plays used humor to pry the lid loose on serious themes. Directors Susan Smith (“Yonkers”), Joan Welch (“Da”) and Michael Weaver (“The Old Boy”) created art to be proud of.

HEIL: A tough race, but Interplayers’ “Da” clinched it with their passionate memory play about a man coming to terms with his irresistibly gruff father. Nipping at the heels of “Da,” however, was the Civic’s “Lost in Yonkers” and the provocative “Baltimore Waltz” at the Firth Chew Studio Theatre.

Best Touring Musical

KERSHNER: The Theodore Bikel version of “Fiddler on the Roof” was a first-rate production of one of the most meaningful musicals ever written. Bikel was born to play the part of Tevye. For a runner-up, my choice is the exuberant Gershwin songfest “Crazy for You.” (HEIL did not review touring musicals).

Best Actress

KERSHNER: Pat Sibley delivered a flawless performance as the partially retarded Bella in “Lost in Yonkers.” Her perfectly shaded performance was the key to this play’s success. Other memorable performances came from Martha Lou Wheatley-Billeter in “The Old Lady’s Guide to Survival” at The ACT, and Elizabeth English, who was exceptional in the Civic’s “As You Like It.”

HEIL: A tie between Marianne McLaughlin and Pat Sibley. These two women turned in stellar performances in the Civic’s “Lost in Yonkers,” playing opposite one another and providing the production with its emotional heft. In close contention, however, was Mary Ann Seibert, the most compelling sister, Sara, in the Interplayers’ “The Sisters Rosensweig.”

Best Actor

KERSHNER: Doug Sadler pulled off an impressive bit of technical acting in “The Old Boy,” as his character, a gubernatorial candidate, flashes back from middle age to age 16. Yet it was more than just a technical triumph; it was also an artistic triumph.

HEIL: Yaakov Sullivan, an Interplayers mainstay this year, brought “Da” to spittle-spraying life and then went on to provide us with charismatic roles in Neil Simon’s “Laughter on the 23rd Floor” and Wendy Wasserstein’s “The Sisters Rosensweig.”

Most Consistent Body of Work

KERSHNER: Yaakov Sullivan gave four high-quality and hugely varied performances in a row, in “Da,” “The Old Boy,” “Laughter on the 23rd Floor” and “The Sisters Rosensweig,” all at Interplayers.

HEIL: Interplayers co-founder Joan Welch was the directing force behind “Intimate Exchanges,” “The Sisters Rosensweig” and “Da,” demonstrating her penchant for quirky, passionate and intellectually rich productions, sometimes all at the same time.

Nicest Surprise

KERSHNER: “The Old Lady’s Guide to Survival” at The ACT played to barely 20 people the night I attended. What a lucky 20. This play, about two elderly women facing the merciless ravages of age, has stayed in my mind often in the seven months since I’ve seen it.

HEIL: The technically challenging “Noises Off” at the Valley Repertory Theatre might have been a disaster in lesser hands, but the Rep’s skillful interpretation pulled off the performance with nary a flaw and left the house hooting.

Richest cultural theme

KERSHNER: Who would have thought that Spokane, a city with only one synagogue, would have such a remarkable series of plays with Jewish themes? In the space of a few months, we saw excellent versions of “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Lost in Yonkers,” “Laughter on the 23rd Floor” and “The Sisters Rosensweig,” all exploring different aspects of the Jewish experience.

Best Comeback

HEIL: Rumormongers were ready to write off The ACT and the Lake City Playhouse after the former suffered theft, shortened production runs and one canceled show, and the latter was hit by a fire causing thousands of dollars in damage. Both theaters, fortunately, have not only gotten back on their feet, but finished up their seasons in high style, giving renewed inspiration to businesses in the performing arts community.

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