Best Theater Company

For 30 years, Actor's Express has been taking risks and breaking boundaries. They've always aimed high artistically and (almost) always meet or exceed audience expectations. Artistic director Freddie Ashley chooses challenging comedies, musicals, and dramas, and the directors he hires pull brave, gutsy performances from some of the best actors around. less...

Downtown Atlanta's Theatrical Outfit enters its 35th anniversary season on a roll, having staged one of the best plays in its recent history with Red. Artistic director Tom Key, normally the sunniest of actors, gave a moody, impassioned performance as painter Mark Rothko, with Jimi Kocina keeping up as a hungry young apprentice eager to learn and to challenge the celebrity artist's ideas about creativity and integrity. On the other the side of the coin, the terrific family show A Wrinkle in Time offered a fusion of whimsical characters, imaginative design, and a potentially disturbing theme about the power of totalitarianism. Even such lesser shows as Freud's Last Session and the world premiere of The Green Book featured impeccable acting and a willingness to engage audiences with potent, heady ideas. The Outfit's home at the Balzer Theater gives theater fans the best reason to visit downtown. less...

An outpouring of support accompanied Actor's Express' S.O.S. fundraising drive this year, which indicates the fierce loyalty of the edgy playhouse's fans and the value of its mission. The theater has changed locations and leadership over its two and a half decades, but sustained its identity as Atlanta's most exciting playhouse. With impeccable recent productions including the insightful comedy Becky Shaw and the twisty musical See What I Wanna See, Actor's Express brings such intelligence and passion to its work that even its most challenging scripts become accessible. The company began its 24th season this fall with the hip rock show Spring Awakening. Here's hoping the youthful onstage energies will be matched by a resurgence of financial security. 887 W. Marietta St. 404-875-1606. actors-express.com. less...

An intimate venue even by the minuscule standards of black box spaces, DAD'S GARAGE TOP SHELF offers an incubator of raw local talent, notably Griefers, written by and starring Randy Havens and Christian Danley, as well as the latest work from artists such as Steve Yockey, Alison Hastings, Erin Burnett and Matt Myers. Bonus: It's easy to drink beer there. 280 Elizabeth St., Suite C-101. 404-523-3141. www.dadsgarage.com. less...

Perhaps something's in the water in Lawrenceville. Since AURORA THEATRE debuted its new playhouse there in 2007, the once-tame suburban theater has seen increasing creative dividends. In the past season, Aurora debuted the Georgia Gwinnett College Lab Series of innovative scripts at its new black box theater, where you can see the likes of the funny, quirky boom and the intriguing, upcoming The Circumference of a Squirrel, starring Daniel May. The programming has branched out from familiar theatrical warhorses and included such coups as the regional premiere of A Catered Affair with Glenn Rainey, and hit a high watermark with Tranced, a twisty political thriller on a par with the best work of Actor's Express, Horizon Theatre and Alliance Hertz Stage. Like Marietta's Theatre in the Square, Aurora strikes just the right balance between pleasing its audience and challenging its artists. 128 E. Pike St., Lawrenceville. 678-226-6222. www.auroratheatre.com. less...

Dad's Garage can be as much funhouse as playhouse, with its regular troupe apparently willing to go to any length to amuse and engage its increasingly loyal audience. With a friendly vibe and beer flowing freely, it's a place where you're more likely to see Charlie Brown caught in The Matrix than a classical idea of theater. This year has seen it extend its reach with the world premiere of a comedy by Monty Python's late Graham Chapman and the elaborate, tooth-loosening fights and chases of Action Movie: The Play. less...

Having traded its tent for a permanent theater a few years ago, the impeccably professional and consistent Georgia Shakespeare Festival's only downside now is that it doesn't produce more often. With its summer program having been expanded into the fall and winter, GSF can serve Shakespeare straight up (consider its recent Romeo and Juliet and Twelfth Night) or take a concept and run with it, such as Shrew: The Holiday Musical or its modern-dress Richard II. less...