8,000 warheads

The search for truth in drama in 2005.

By Robert Avila

AS THIS YEAR'S recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature, Harold Pinter delivered his acceptance speech last week via videotape (the ailing 75-year-old playwright having been forbidden by his doctors to travel to Stockholm for the ceremony). It was, in ample part, an excoriating attack on the rarely acknowledged crimes of American foreign policy since World War II. And, in a less straightforward way, it was a measure of the relationship between art and political speech. It goes without saying there was little coverage of Pinter's address in the United States (it was even underreported in Britain), though you can read it online. It's interesting how such words – and the death, mutilation, and cruelty they describe – prove too indelicate for the gladiatorial ring of American corporate media. Reality is the only real taboo in a mass culture awash in "reality" shows.

I saw only one Pinter play staged this year, Last Planet Theatre's remounting of Moonlight. But I think under the circumstances – including a year of some exceptional theater, and marked by the passing of August Wilson and Arthur Miller, neither of whom shied from speaking disturbing social truths about a system built on exploitation – it's fitting to pause for Pinter, the artist and the man, as he famously pauses for our benefit, in art and public life.

Top theater moments of 2005

Theatre Bay Area's 'Free Night of Theater' The year's biggest theatrical coup didn't happen on 1 stage but on 93, and on the same night. "A Free Night of Theater" – TBA's ambitious pilot program to build audiences en masse for the Bay Area's best-kept secret: its vibrant theater scene, the third-largest in the country – was an unexpected success. Who says there isn't an audience out there? TBA (a theater service organization and advocacy group) gave away nearly 7,500 tickets for 122 performances on or around Oct. 20, the vast majority going to people who were visiting a given venue for the first time. Originally TBA made 5,000 tickets available, apparently, but demand was so high (they were snatched up in less than a week) it came up with some more. Likely it'll have the same trouble next year.

Danny Wolohan (actor) doing the best portrayal of a "white guy" by a white guy all year, in Asian American Theater Company's world premiere of Under the Rainbow by playwright-director Philip Kan Gotanda. A performance as rip-roaring and it was deft. Wolohan's a powerhouse and just gets better. He struck again some months later with understated verve and superb timing, playing a tippling red-nosed cop-bemused straight man to his wiseass partner, a totally inappropriate ventriloquist's dummy (clearly somebody ducked sensitivity training)in Campo Santo's world premiere of playwright-director Octavio Solis's romping, bar-hopping Ballad of Pancho and Lucy.

The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? (American Conservatory Theater) Hoofs down, one of the best times I had at the theater this year. ACT and director Richard E.T. White's exquisite Bay Area premiere of Edward Albee's play was fun, funny, and truly transgreh-eh-eh-eh-ssive; it was also a deep, formidable bid to translate Greek tragedy for our modern, radically different world. One was chewing on it long after the curtain came down.

Not about Nightingales (Theatre Rhinoceros) Best unearthed gem. A fascinating glimpse at the early Tennessee Williams, the Bay Area premiere of the recently discovered Nightingales proved it a problematic but involving work: a young TW trying to write a 1930s Works Progress Administration play and coming away with something ultimately very different, adumbrating the mature artist at a vital artistic crossroads. Admirable at exploring its potential was John Fisher's uneven but gutsy and atmospheric production, staged in Rhino's bowelsy basement studio.

The Price (Aurora Theatre) and Crimes of the Heart (Actors Theatre of San Francisco) Best ensemble work. Hard to decide, not only between them but between several productions from each company in 2005. Aurora's production of Arthur Miller's The Price was flawless, though, leading off a season dedicated to the late playwright. Meanwhile, Elisa Jones, Carole Swann, and Niki Yapo led a great cast as the sisters in Beth Henley's engrossing Pulitzer Prize-winning Crimes of the Heart.

The People's Temple (Berkeley Rep) Best live history. An impressive, highly textured achievement written by Leigh Fondakowski with Greg Pierotti, Stephen Wangh, and Margo Hall; fluidly and imaginatively staged by Fondakowski. A remarkable ensemble too, unfolding the complex story of the interracial Peoples Temple, and Jonestown, in the words of actual members, their families, and firsthand observers.

Medea: The Musical (Theatre Rhinoceros) and Hush Up, Sweet Charlotte (Make It So Productions) Best camp revival – it's a tie!

A Boy and His Soul (Thick Description) Best soul-o performance and a compelling trip (by way of one hip record collection) to 1970s black Philadelphia, whether you were there or not. This euphoric, autobiographical, high-fidelity groove was a notable world premiere by bicoastal, Philly-born actor Coleman Domingo.

Nicholas Nickelby, Parts One and Two (California Shakespeare Theater) Best soap, set out under the stars in Orinda. Codirectors Jonathan Moscone and Sean Daniels were inspired in casting and staging this production of David Edgar's adaptation of the Dickens novel. An engrossing six-plus hours, Nickelby was a treat, though Cal Shakes also ended their season on a real high note with Lillian Groag's pitch-perfect production of The Tempest.

Blood Relative (Traveling Jewish Theatre) Best play on the Palestine-Israel conflict. The ongoing tragedy in the Middle East has attracted various treatments and will continue to, but none this year more supple, compelling, and beautifully staged than the collaboration between TJT and several actors from Israel and Palestine.

3F, 4F (Magic Theatre) Best surprise. Quirky, compassionate, fierce, and unpredictable, Victor Lodato's play proved the standout in Magic's second annual Hot House series of new works.

Sore Throats (Last Planet Theatre) Best domestic meltdown. My favorite offering from Last Planet this year (though Fassbinder's The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant is a close second). Artistic director John Wilkins's production of Howard Brenton's play had the exuberance and unpredictability the company cultivates, but channeled with a focus and balance not seen since they essayed Howard Barker's Ursula, Fear of the Estuary. Clearly, British playwrights named Howard B-something are fertile ground.

Beautiful Child (by Nicky Silver; Theatre Rhinoceros) Best audience gasp, followed by uncomfortable silence ...