First Night's Top Ten of 2010: Nashville's Best Plays

Nashville theater audiences were treated to a wide range of dramatic offerings in 2010, with the revival of some of the best-known American plays of the past half-century, along with productions of some amazing original works by a group of talented homegrown playwrights, whose subjects ranged from what goes on in the intimate confines of the ladies' room to a murder mystery comedy with a film noir ambience. Clearly, if 2010 is any indication, the new 2011 season now under way is going to be filled with even more surprises and delights. So what productions ranked highest in my estimation? Here they are: First Night's Top Ten Plays of 2010...

• All My Sons. Directed by Don Griffiths, presented by Actors Bridge Ensemble. Some 63 years after its debut on Broadway, Arthur Miller's All My Sons remains one of Contemporary Theatre's most powerful and affecting dramas. Given the tenor of today's times, it continues to resonate with audiences, its relevance undiminished and its themes challenging. Given an extraordinarily confident staging in a joint production from Actors Bridge Ensemble and the Belmont University Department of Theatre and Dance, it is live theatre at its best - something no true lover of the stage can allow themselves to miss. Griffiths' staging of Miller's now-classic tragedy, with its echoes of the Greek classics, is heart-wrenching, certain to stir up all the emotions one can muster. Beautifully designed and executed, with superb performances from a cast that includes professional actors from Actors Bridge, along with the affecting portrayals of some exceptionally talented Belmont students, the production is completely satisfying on all levels, without even one iota of staginess to mar the proceedings.

• The Diary of Anne Frank. Directed by Scot Copeland, presented by Nashville Children's Theatre. No matter how many times you see The Diary of Anne Frank, you cannot help but be moved by the story and the renewed realization that such horrors as the Holocaust actually took place in a civilized world. Perhaps even more horrifying is the notion that some people insist the Holocaust never happened, that it is merely a fabrication by the Jewish-controlled media and political reactionaries attempting to foist an untruth upon the world. How important then is this play - now onstage at Nashville Children's Theatre in a stunning production helmed by NCT producing director Scot Copeland - designed for younger audiences? Frankly, its impact is immeasurable, but it most certainly presents the story of young diarist Anne Frank in such a way that younger audiences should never be able to forget the Holocaust, nor should they ever question the reality of those dark days in the human experience.

• Doubt. Directed by Mike Fernandez. Presented by David Lipscomb University Theatre. Provocative and compelling, John Patrick Shanley's script for Doubt remains stagebound - albeit a Pulitzer Prize-winning, stagebound masterpiece - until a confident director and cast take on the challenge of mounting a production, in which to breathe life into the characters created so vividly by the playwright on the written page. Nashville audiences were given the opportunity to see Doubt in a remarkably acted and superbly staged production at David Lipscomb University's Shamblin Theatre. Staging Doubt for Lipscomb's Christian Scholars Conference was a courageous choice for the Lipscomb theatre department, which is broadening its scope (word is that a master's program in theatre is in the offing at the university) and making its presence in Nashville's arts community felt far more strongly. Shanley's Doubt, deserving of all its accolades and an excellent example of theatre as literature with its beautifully crafted dialogue and Shanley's uncanny ability to make even the most disturbing subject palatable and cause for much discussion, is particularly relevant in this day and age, what with the news filled with stories of religious figures straying over the line, as it were, to use their positions of authority to prey upon the weak and helpless.

• The Grapes of Wrath. Directed by Clay Hillwig. Presented by Circle Players. Featuring a stunning lead performance by Heather Alexander in the pivotal role of Ma Joad, director Hillwig scores an artistic success with his production of Frank Galati's The Grapes of Wrath - based upon John Steinbeck's epic novel - to open Circle Players' 2010-11 season at The Keeton Theatre. Performed by Hillwig's large cast against the backdrop of Jim Manning's beautifully conceived and exquisitely realized set that magically transforms the Keeton's intimate stage into a panoramic view of dustbowl Oklahoma, the fiery Southwest and the lush, verdant fields and orchards of California, The Grapes of Wrath is a visual tour de force that other community theater companies - frankly, any theater company of whatever ilk - should aspire to achieve. Faithful to Steinbeck's original masterpiece, Galati's script reimagines the tale of the woebegone Joad family to transport the tale to the stage. Son Tom (played by Ryan Williams), paroled from prison for killing a man during a brawl at a dance, returns only to find that his family has been forced off their farm. Encountering a former preacher (Brian Cunningham), the two join forces to find the Joads packing up their rattletrap truck for the ultimate journey to the promised land: California, where the produce is overflowing and the jobs are plentiful.

• Potty Talk. Directed by Trish Crist, from her own script. Presented by Rhubarb Theater Company. Trish Crist has a way with words - or perhaps it's just her ability to listen and comprehend that sets her apart. With her latest original work, Potty Talk, Crist takes audiences into the confines of the so-called "ladies' room" for more than just some eavesdropping, as we hear what women really talk about in that tiled, private enclave. Instead, Crist, through her richly drawn characters, entertains us with her frank and funny depictions of the conversations held there and she enlightens those people who, like her, are good listeners. Potty Talk, obviously still a work-in-progress, is a warm and witty evocation of women on their own turf, talking about the various subjects that dominate their lives, sharing the minutiae of daily life and, perhaps most significantly, showing how very real friendship can develop between women of quite different backgrounds standing in front of a shared mirror. Their reflections, it seems, aren't always what you would expect them to be.

• Proof. Directed by Rene Dunshee Copeland. Presented by Tennessee Repertory Theatre. Rene Dunshee Copeland is, perhaps, the best stage director in Nashville (competing with her husband, Scot Copeland, the heart and soul of Nashville Children's Theatre, for claim to the imagined title), having brought some of the most memorable works to local stages during her career . And with Tennessee Rep (where she is producing artistic director) celebrating its 25^th Anniversary Season this year, she has gone for broke, helming all four shows included in the silver season. With Steel Magnolias and A Christmas Story already under her belt, for both of which she gained justified critical acclaim, she has added David Auburn's Proof to her resume. The result? Yet another sublimely mounted production to complement the ever-growing list of her successes. Of course, every director is only as good as his or her latest show and with each subsequent production, Copeland proves herself worthy of any theatrical challenge. Her unerring eye for casting ensures that each show is superbly acted and her critical eye makes certain that every show is presented in a creative and imaginative manner. With her penchant for quality and her attention to detail, a Rene Copeland-directed show is certain to deliver more than an audience expects, thus ensuring that Tennessee Rep will remain an artistic leader both regionally and nationally.

• Rear Widow. Directed by Lauren Shouse, from the original script by Dietz Osborne and Nate Eppler. Presented by Chaffin's Barn Dinner Theatre. Osborne and Eppler have quickly gained a reputation as Nashville's most accomplished playwriting team and, thanks to their latest effort - the winkingly titled Rear Widow - the talented duo have scored their biggest success to date. Rear Widow is a fast-paced and completely entertaining salute to the film noir genre, brought winningly and charmingly to life by director Shouse and her superb cast of actors (which includes Martha Wilkinson, Jennifer Richmond and B.J. Rowell in addition to the two playwrights themselves). Osborne and Eppler have consistently written good dialogue and situations in their previous collaborations, but Rear Widow finds them at the zenith of their teamwork, crafting a plot and creating characters that are definitely inspired by legendary films. Yet while Rear Widow is a valentine to the genre that the playwrights so obviously understand and comprehend, it's also highly original and imaginative. Frankly, if you don't find yourself completely drawn into the tale of "the black widow" suspected of doing in all the men in her life, you might need professional help. Shouse's direction is impeccable, propelling the action along its merry way at a dizzying pace and presenting the play's action with a deft skill that ensures the audience's rapt attention.

• Unravelling the Ribbon. Directed by Maryanna Clarke. Presented by Tennessee Women's Theater Project. Director Maryanna Clarke's intelligent choice to retain Mary Kelly and Maureen White's original Irish setting for the United States professional premiere of Unravelling the Ribbon, instead of transplanting the playwrights' characters to some American hamlet helps to underscore the play's universality and to further illustrate how women all over the world must confront the cold reality of a cancer diagnosis. With the tremendous guidance of dialect coach Jill Massie, the three actresses in the piece (Corrie Miller, Kristin James and Linda Sue Simmons) display a remarkable gift of actually sounding as if they come from the Emerald Isle, instead of sounding like a bunch of Tennessee actresses mimicking the Lucky Charms leprechaun. While Clarke and her talented cast unravel the story of Rose, Lyndsey and Lola, we are given a glimpse into the women's lives; in the process, learning as much about ourselves as we learn about the women in the play. It's a moving, oftentimes awe-inspiring journey - teeming with an intensity of feeling that might be off-putting if performed by lesser talents under the guidance of a director who doesn't care as much as Clarke so obviously does.

• Vincent in Brixton. Directed by Bill Feehely. Presented by Actors Bridge Ensemble. Passionate and provocative, Nicholas Wright's Vincent in Brixton, "a play about the early life of Vincent Van Gogh," is brought to vivid life through the extraordinarily rich performances of Brent Maddox and Kim Bretton in the Actors Bridge Ensemble's production. Under the strong and capable direction of founding artistic director Feehely, the play tells of young Vincent's sojourn in London, considering how his love affair with a woman more than twice his age - the woman who inspired him to follow his heart and his dreams even while she watched hers wither on the vine - completely changed his life's direction, resulting in the legendary artistry for which he is best known. One of this season's most beautifully acted productions, Vincent in Brixton is moving and emotional, funny and evocative. Thanks to Feehely's wealth of experience and his discerning eye, it is a lively affair, completely engaging the audience in the tale being told onstage. By turns immensely entertaining and thoroughly inspiring, Vincent in Brixton is also heart-wrenching in its candor and honesty and the multi-layered performances of Feehely's talented cast only gives the play deeper meaning and resonance.The play's consideration of how an artist can be inspired - his true talents tested and brought to fruition - is compelling and inspiring in its own way. Watching young Vincent's story brought to life cannot help but make you think long after you leave the theatre and, when placed in the proper historical context of the story of Van Gogh's troubled later life, you are likely to have a far more visceral reaction than you might have expected initally.

• Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Directed by Michael Roard. Presented by ACT 1. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - Edward Albee's scathing evisceration of marriage and indictment of suburban morality - is brought to the Nashville stage once again in a superbly acted and confidently directed production from Artists Cooperative Theatre 1 (ACT 1). First staged by ACT 1 in its 1989-90 season in a critically-lauded staging directed by Peg Allen and headed by a cast that included A. Sean O'Connell, it is revived now as part of the company's 20^th anniversary season, once again proving the power of Albee's exquisitely created words and plot and the frankly horrifying characters whose lives play out onstage. Roark's effective staging of the piece - and the spectacularly theatrical, yet somehow low-key and effectively underplayed, performances of Melissa Bedinger Hade and Ed Amatrudo - adds to the visceral reactions experienced by the audience in this almost epic dismantling of an American marriage, circa 1960-something. With its laser-sharp examination of the shifting loyalities and the constant struggles that any two people who are joined in a marriage must deal with, Virginia Woolf is, at once, frighteningly brilliant and brilliantly frightening. The still-compelling script, which very possibly packs more of an emotional wallop today than it did when it first premiered, may well prove that Albee's play always has been ahead of its time with the searing, soul-baring truths it expresses so eloquently and exposes so daringly. Albee takes no prisoners in his depiction of the crumbling facade of the marriage of the down-at-heels George (who finds no solace in his confining tenure as an associate professor at a small New England college) and boozy, blowsy Martha (the fading ingenue, a good 20 years past her prime, who still banks on her status as daughter of the college's president to ensure her social standing); instead he presents them, warts and all, with a spotlight shining brightly on the perceived differences that pull them apart on a daily basis, while keeping in The Shadows those disturbing facts that keep them yoked to each other despite their hurtful actions and pitiable reactions.

Pictured: Zack McCann and Bill Feehely in All My Sons.