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Quality was the hallmark of Pittsburgh theater in 2010

Pittsburgh Public Theater

Quality was the hallmark of Pittsburgh theater in 2010

Times are tough. But when haven't they been tough in the nonprofit theater?

Even so, a survey of the 2010 theater year suggests that the quality of our dozen professional companies, plus semi-pro and university groups, stayed high. There are plenty of contenders for the Post-Gazette's annual Top 10 theater list, a tradition started by then-theater editor George Anderson in the 1970s.

The quality comes from the increasing maturity of our theater community, as Pittsburgh grew over the past two decades into a regional center for professional theater, developing the track record and leadership to weather these financial storms. Even fringe groups have history. The acting pool is strong.

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So what follows is the result of hard choices. I've heard from many about their favorite shows, and I've canvassed the other Post-Gazette critics, but ultimately, the choices are mine.

As always, this Top 10 list includes local and touring shows. The other half of our annual retrospective, announcing the Post-Gazette's 27th Performer of the Year, is limited to Pittsburgh productions and will appear the first week in January.

1. Harold Pinter, Pinter Festival (Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre).

This tour de force, called "Hearing Noise in the Silence: A Celebration of the Life and Theatre of Harold Pinter," packed three full-length plays and three one-acts into a month of programming, about the time most theaters allot to a single play. The acting and directing company of 17 was strong throughout. My favorite play was the grimly comic "No Man's Land," one of Pinter's greatest, followed by "Betrayal," and who could resist "Celebration"? But everyone had a different favorite -- it was that strong.

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2. George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber, "The Royal Family" (Pittsburgh Public Theater).

A grand comedy, rich with sentiment, about a fabled theatrical family based loosely on the Barrymores. Director Ted Pappas skillfully moved a big cast around a lavish, multistoried Public set that looked like half the audience could have moved right in.

3. Andrew Bovell, "When the Rain Stops Falling" (Quantum Theatre).

A tragedy of inheritance, intimate but on a grand scale, set in a simple kitchen with mountainous Ayers Rock looming overhead. We followed four generations of a family from England to Australia and 30 years into the future. As pairs talked, their parents, children or themselves at a different age stood witness in mute support or accusation. Staged in the former Iron City Beer plant and directed by Martin Giles so as to let us gradually unravel the painful ironies.

4. Tracy Letts, "Killer Joe" (barebones productions).

A grisly comedy about poor white trash, so inept and outrageous that you found yourself laughing in fascinated horror. Artistic director Patrick Jordan played the cool killer, while rocker Joe Grushecky provided haunting background.

5. Patrick Barlow (after Hitchcock), "The 39 Steps" (City Theatre).

An accidental, squabbling couple search frantically for an illusory object. In this spooky comedy of make-believe, everybody they met was played by two actors of plasticity and invention.

6. Holmes, Kander & Ebb, "Curtains" (Pittsburgh CLO).

Malcolm Gets starred as the star-struck Boston detective who solves a slew of murders and saves the show. The score isn't great Kander & Ebb, but it's a head above just about anyone else.

7. Heiner Muller (tr. Carl Weber), "The Task" (Quantum).

An extravaganza of early 19th century new world revolutionary politics, in which the audience moved around a cavernous Strip District building to watch it develop in many different stage configurations and genres, directed by Jed Harris.

8. Arthur Miller, "The Price" (Public).

A well-made excavation of family history and resentment, directed by City's Tracy Brigden in a heartening display of theatrical cooperation.

9. August Wilson, "Jitney" (Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre)

The company's year-by-year progress through Wilson's Pittsburgh Cycle reached number seven with his most Pittsburgh play, in which Sala Udin led a cast rich in authenticity.

10. Tracy Letts, "August: Osage County" (PNC Broadway)

A robust, satiric-tragic explosion of one family's feuds and foibles, as bold, brassy and sprawling as Letts' "Killer Joe" was grimy and intense.

A dozen more to challenge the Top 10: Stephen Massicote, "Clockmaker"; Cori Thomas, "When January Feels Like Summer"; Willy Holtzman, "The Morini Strad"; and Robert Hewitt, "The Blonde, the Brunette and the Vengeful Redhead" with Michelle Pawk (all City); Alan Ayckbourn, "The Time of My Life" and Shakespeare, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (both Public); Mel Brooks, "Young Frankenstein" (PNC Broadway); Brooks & Meehan, "The Producers" (CLO); August Wilson, "Radio Golf" (Kuntu Rep); "Midnight Radio," a variety show in six installments (Bricolage); Harold Brighouse, "Hobson's Choice" (PICT); and Tammy Ryan, "Confluence of Dreaming" (Playhouse Rep).

And the universities: Masteroff, Bock & Harnick, "She Loves Me" (Point Park); Shakespeare, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (Carnegie Mellon); Anderson & Goldbogen after Lewis Carroll, "Alice" (University of Pittsburgh).

First Published: December 26, 2010, 10:00 a.m.

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