The Best of 2013: The Best Plays I Saw

I have to assume that in any given year, I see more non-musical plays in Chicago (and its vicinity) than I would if I lived in New York, London or anywhere else on Earth. 

As has been the case as a tourist, in those theatrical meccas I would likely focus mostly on the big budget Broadway and West End musicals, with perhaps only a handful of dramas piquing my interest.

I prefer musicals and see more of them in Chicago as well, but I also have a subscription to the Goodman Theatre—which mostly stages non-musicals—and enjoy dramatic works at other first-rate “in-house production troupe” theaters such as Steppenwolf, TimeLine, Court and Northlight, the latter being just minutes from my Skokie home.

And then there are Chicago's true storefront theaters—something for which I believe there is little equivalent, at least in terms of breadth, in NYC, London, Toronto, L.A., etc.—including Profiles, Gift, Strawdog, Steep, Redtwist and many others regularly doing stellar work in venues seating as few as 30 patrons.

In 2013, I attended 18 plays—again, not including musicals—with 17 of them being at 10 different theaters in and around Chicago; I also caught an all-female production of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew at the Globe Theatre in London.

Blending together the play itself and the quality of the production in a completely non-scientific manner, here's my ranking of the Best Plays I Saw in 2013:

(Note: all are in the Chicago area unless noted; new or recent plays are denoted with an *)

1. Proof - Court Theatre (my review)
written by David Auburn; directed by Charles Newell

2. A Raisin in the Sun - TimeLine Theatre (my review)
written by Lorraine Hansberry; directed by Ron OJ Parson

3. Other Desert Cities* - Goodman Theatre (my review)
written by Jon Robin Baitz; directed by Henry Wishcamper

4. Measure for Measure - Goodman Theatre (my review)
written by William Shakespeare; directed by Robert Falls

5. The Birthday Party - Steppenwolf Theatre (my review)
written by Harold Pinter; directed by Austin Pendleton

6. Simpatico - A Red Orchid Theatre (my review)
written by Sam Shepard; directed by Dado

7. Stella & Lou* - Northlight Theatre (my review)
written by Bruce Graham ; directed by B.J. Jones

8. The Whipping Man* - Northlight Theatre (my review)
written by Matthew Lopez; directed by Kimberly Senior

9. Julius Caesar - Chicago Shakespeare Theatre (my review)
written by William Shakespeare; directed by Jonathan Munby

10. The Motherf**ker with the Hat* - Steppenwolf Theatre (my review)
written by Stephen Adly Guirgis; directed by Anna D. Shapiro

Honorable Mention (in order of preference)

Detroit '67* - Northlight Theatre (my review)
written by Dominique Morrisseau; directed by Ron OJ Parson

Big Love - Strawdog Theatre (my review)
written by Charles L. Mee; directed by Matt Hawkins

By the Way, Meet Vera Stark* - Goodman Theatre (my review)
written by Lynn Nottage; directed by Chuck Smith

To Master the Art - Broadway Playhouse / TimeLine Theatre (my review)
written by William Brown and Doug Frew; directed by William Brown

The Taming of the Shrew - Globe Theatre, London (traveling troupe)
written by William Shakespeare; directed by ??