BEST ACTOR

Garland seemed to have been everywhere last season — in plays as diverse as The Pillowman at Jobsite, Bug at Gorilla Theatre, Grace at Studio@620 and Woman in Mind again at Jobsite. Although he shone in each play, he was most memorable in Pillowman, where he was Keturian, a struggling writer whose violent stories were being enacted for real by a mysterious figure who just might be his own brother. As Keturian, Garland was frightened, baffled and skittishly deferential to the two cops who were interrogating him but passionate when he felt that his brother was being harmed. He was utterly different as the smarmy, menacing Dr. Sweet of Bug and the perfectly compassionate husband of Woman in Mind. Garland may be the Everyman that local theaters have been looking for since Jeff Norton stopped appearing in plays. Watch for him on every stage in town.