Yes, it’s OK to laugh: I enter all the shows I see in an Excel spreadsheet. It certainly makes things easier when it’s time to look back and come up with the year’s top ten.
Perusing the 2012 master list, I realized I didn’t see that many overwhelmingly great productions, but many were crowding each other in the above-average category. Unlike most of my colleagues, I didn’t care alll that much for the big, prestige revivals — no “Death of a Salesman,” “Glengarry Glen Ross” or “The Heiress,” though “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” got under my skin and has stayed with me more than I expected when I first saw it. Overall, though, Broadway didn’t fare well at all. I think it’s safe to say the Great White Way is undergoing a creative crisis.
And now here are my ten favorites, in alphabetical order:
“Assistance” (Playwrights Horizons, February) Nobody writes vicious 20somethings like Leslye Headland. Her less deliberately shocking, more finely observed follow-up to “Bachelorette” was a biting study of abusive master/servant relationships in the work place. The anarchic, giddy finale was sheer exhilaration.
“Detroit” (Playwrights Horizons, September) Lisa D’Amour’s excellent take-down of the American suburban nightmare was initially supposed to be on Broadway, but it ended up contributing to Playwrights Horizons’ stellar year. Aside from a couple of isolated flukes like “Grace,” the new plays on Broadway were either bores (“The Columnist”) or busts (“The Anarchist,” “The Performers,” “Dead Accounts”). And do you see a Broadway musical on this list? No. Again: Broadway has a big, big problem.
“Gob Squad’s Kitchen (You’ve Never Had It So Good)” (Public Theater, January) Many theater practitioners fall into the video trap. Not so the Berlin-based Gob Squad company, whose riff on Andy Warhol’s “Kitchen” movie intermingled live and Memorex to make us ponder what’s fake and what’s real — and whether it even matters.
“Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812” (ArsNova, October) Composer/book writer Dave Malloy and director Rachel Chavkin turned a small subplot from “War and Peace” into the year’s most accomplished musical — and the only one on this list. The concept was flawlessly thought-out and executed (the venue was reconfigured as a Russian cabaret, for an immersive feel), and we discovered a fabulous new performer in Phillipa Soo, a young Juilliard grad. Now can someone please record this show so it doesn’t completely fall off the face of the earth after its brief run?
“One Man, Two Guv’nors” (Music Box Theatre, April) When farce is as expertly done as it was here, it’s just impossible to deny its power. I laughed even more when I returned to the show.
“3C” (Rattlestick Theatre, June) David Adjmi’s violent comedy got some of the year’s worst reviews, but it was painfully insightful about a heap of things — like the way pop culture frames our psyche, or the way friends and neighbours can make life a living hell. A colorful little cyanide pill.
“Tribes” (Barrow Street Theatre, March) Do you need to leave your family behind to join a community of peers? What makes up a community anyway? How do we communicate with each other? These are just some of the questions raised by Nina Raine’s beautiful drama, centered on a young deaf man. David Cromer only confirmed his status as one of America’s finest directors.
“Uncle Vanya” (Lincoln Center Festival/City Center, July) I wasn’t entirely sold on the Sydney Theatre Company’s production when I saw it at the Kennedy Center in 2011, but everything came into sharp focus with a second viewing at its NYC debut. Cate Blanchett displayed unexpected physical-comedy chops, and her scenes with Hugo Weaving made me fantasize about them starring in a 1940s-style romantic comedy.
“We Are Proud to Present a Presentation About the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as Southwest Africa, From the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915” (Soho Rep, November) Jackie Sibblies Drury’s play opened at such a busy time that I wasn’t able to get to it in time for a review. I was lucky enough to catch up with the show, which turned out to be astounding. Set during a rehearsal for the titular presentation, it laid bare actors’ narcissism and their obsession with process, the conventions of theater-making, and the politics of colonialism. It’s a tall order, but Drury and director Eric Ting pulled it off brilliantly in a show that was both brainy and visceral.
“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (Booth Theatre, October). A sleeper: I liked this revival well enough when I saw it, then found myself thinking about it constantly. This says a lot both about the play’s enduring perversity and about the revelatory aspects of Pam McKinnon’s production.
Honorable mentions:
“The Book of Everything” (New Victory Theatre, April) Australian director Neil Armfield (“Exit the King,” “Diary of Madman”) staged this adaptation of a Dutch children’s book with tender inventivity. There were more ideas per minute than most Broadway shows can conjure up in an hour.
“Cock” (Duke on 42nd Street, May) The war of the sexes deployed in a literal arena, built from scratch inside the Duke. Smart, punchy, sexy.
“Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” (City Center, May): and everybody prefers Megan Hilty, a fabulous hoot in the last entry in a fine Encores! season.
“Ivanov” (Classic Stage Company, November) An excellent entry in CSC’s ongoing, unofficial Chekhov project. Ethan Hawke played depression and boredom not like mopey states but ones of permanently boiling frustration bordering on rage. Great support turns from Juliet Rylance, Joely Richardson and director Austin Pendleton contributed to make this three-hour show a captivating one.
“Jukebox Jackie: Snatches of Jackie Curtis” (LaMaMa, May) Scott Wittman’s loving, debauched tribute to the late Warhol Superstar Jackie Curtis made great use of downtown luminaries Bridget Everett, Cole Escola and Justin Vivian Bond. A rare display of genuine rock & roll energy on the theater stage.
“Rapture, Blister, Burn” (Playwrights Horizons, June) Gina Gionfriddo finally gave a follow-up to her fantastic “Becky Shaw.” That funny, incisive comedy about feminism was worth the wait.
“Red-Handed Otter” (Cherry Lane Theatre Studio, September) A group of night-shift watchmen discussed their pets so they could avoid discussing themselves in Ethan Lipton’s quirky comedy. A very funny show, and deceptively perceptive.