I’m jumping the gun here because awards for the professional theater season aren’t usually handed out this early. But I couldn’t resist, because these two productions, opening within days of each other, were as exhilarating a start to a season as I can remember — Jobsite finding both the hilarity and the heart in Steve Martin’s stylish farce, with a terrific ensemble under the direction of moonlighting Stageworks AD Karla Hartley, and Stephanie Gularte launching her first all-chosen-by-her season at American Stage with a riveting rendition of an important, funny and moving play by a Pulitzer Prize winner. Granted, the critics for the Times and CL did not agree with me about Underpants, but I had a helluva good time. —David Warner
This article appears in Best of The Bay 2016.
