Editor's Note: The following is year-end commentary from local theater critic Alexandra Bonifield, who writes for her own blog CriticalRant.com and Arts+Culture Magazine, both of which are TheaterJones media partners. Expanded categories with commentary will appear soon on CriticalRant.

Ten Top Productions of 2010: Literary merit. Imaginative staging. Sophisticated direction. Cohesive ensemble performance. Comprehensive technical vision and execution. Viable realities.

1. Our Town (WaterTower Theatre)
2. August: Osage County (Oklahoma City Repertory Company)
3. Much Ado About Nothing (Trinity Shakespeare Festival)
4. The Dog Problem (Undermain Theatre)
5. Umlauf’s Bicycle (The Ochre House/Balanced Almond)
6. The 39 Steps (Stage West)
7. Charm (Kitchen Dog Theater)
8. Endgame (Undermain Theatre) 
9. The Drowsy Chaperone (Theatre Three) 
10. Bach at Leipzig (Circle Theatre) 

Outstanding original performances or adaptations in 2010:

• Alice in Wonderland (White Rock Pollution)
• The B(e)ast of Taylor Mac (Undermain Theatre)
• Before Night Falls (Fort Worth Opera)
• Bill (Ochre House/Balanced Almond)
• Milarepa (Fred Curchack and Laura Jorgensen)

Defining directors of 2010:

• Robin Armstrong, Bach at Leipzig and Bright Ideas (both at Circle Theatre)
• Christopher Carlos, Charm (Kitchen Dog Theater)
• Jim Covault, The 39 Steps (Stage West)
• Stephen Fried, Much Ado About Nothing (Trinity Shakespeare Festival)
• Terry Martin, Our Town (WaterTower Theatre)
• René Moreno, Cymbeline (Shakespeare Dallas); August: Osage County (Oklahoma City Rep); No Child... (Amphibian Stage Productions)
• Katherine Owens, Port Twilight, or a History of Science and The Dog Problem (both at Undermain Theatre; Port Twilight re-opened in 2010)
• Matthew Posey, St. Genet of the Flowery Teeth, Bill and Umlauf’s Bicycle (all at Ochre House)
• Michael Serrecchia, The Drowsy Chaperone (Theatre Three)
• Stan Wojewodski, Jr., Endgame (Undermain Theatre)

Outstanding ensemble performances of 2010:

• Alice in Wonderland (White Rock Pollution)
• Cymbeline (Shakespeare Dallas)
• Our Town (WaterTower Theatre)
• Sanders Family Christmas (One Thirty Productions)
• SubUrbia, (Upstart Productions)

Top acting performances of 2010:

• Rhianna Mack, No Child…(Amphibian Stage Productions)
• Matt Posey, St. Genet of the Flowery Teeth (The Ochre House/Balanced Almond)

Top dance performances of 2010:

• Jeremy Dumont, The Drowsy Chaperone (Theatre Three)
• Morgana Shaw, Closer to Heaven (Uptown Players)

Top vocal performances of 2010:

• Wes Mason (Before Night Falls, Fort Worth Opera)
• Cara Statham Serber (It’s A Bird…It’s A Plane…It’s Superman! (Dallas Theater Center)

Outstanding Male Performers of 2010:

• Regan Adair: Laughter on the 23rd Floor (WaterTower Theatre); Something Intangible (Circle Theatre); The Beauty Plays, Henry IV and A Christmas Carol (all at Dallas Theater Center)
• Cameron Cobb: Betrayal (Kitchen Dog Theater)
• Joey Folsom: Our Town (WaterTower Theatre); SubUrbia (Upstart Productions); Georgie Gets A Facelift (Churchmouse Productions)
• Stan Graner: Our Town (WaterTower Theatre); Sanders Family Christmas (One Thirty Productions)
• Gregory Lush: Hunter Gatherers (Second Thought Theatre); The Seagull (Kitchen Dog Theater); Sherlock Holmes in the Crucifer of Blood (Theatre Three)
• Mitchell Parrack: Bill and Umlauf’s Bicycle (both at Ochre House)
• Randy Pearlman: Is He Dead? (WaterTower Theatre); A Kind of Alaska (Upstart Productions); Alice in Wonderland (White Rock Pollution); The Sisters Rosensweig (Contemporary Theatre of Dallas)
• Mark Shum: Opus (Circle Theatre); Is He Dead? (WaterTower Theatre); The 39 Steps (Stage West)
• Drew Wall: Long Way Go Down (Kitchen Dog Theater); The Dog Problem (Undermain Theatre)
• Brian Witkowicz: Alice in Wonderland (White Rock Pollution); Charm (Kitchen Dog Theater)

Outstanding Female Performers of 2010:

• Emily Scott Banks: Our Town (WaterTower Theatre)
• Cassie Bann: SubUrbia (Upstart Productions); Gint (Broken Gears Project Theatre)
• Pam Dougherty: August: Osage County (Oklahoma City Rep); The Full Monty (WaterTower Theatre)
• Marianne Galloway: Sanders Family Christmas (One Thirty Productions); Beehive and [title of show] (both at Theatre Three)
• Jenny Ledel: Two Gentlemen of Verona (Shakespeare Dallas)
• Trisha Miller: Much Ado About Nothing (Trinity Shakespeare Festival)
• Arianna Movassagh: Hello Human Female (Audacity Theatre Lab, the second time, at Teatro Dallas); The Drowsy Chaperone (Theatre Three)
• Morgana Shaw: Closer to Heaven (Uptown Players); Well-Traveled But Not Well-Known (One Thirty Productions)
• Sally Vahle: Death of a Salesman (Dallas Theater Center)
• Cara Statham Serber: It’s a Bird…Iit’s a Plane…It’s Superman! (Dallas Theater Center)

Artists on the Way Up: Elizabeth Evans, Cassie Bann, Daniel Johnson, Justin Locklear

Most Memorable 2010 Holiday Show: A Christmas Carol reading (Stage West)

Zaniest theater photos of 2010: James Jamison for Santa Claus vs. The Martians (Level Ground Arts)

Bared-Fangs Designees of Shame (or, the Worst of 2010):

• The Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare Dallas)
• The Dixie Swim Club (Pocket Sandwich Theatre)
• Flaming Guns of the Purple Sage and Beehive (Theatre Three)
• Give It Up! (Dallas Theater Center)
• The Seagull (Kitchen Dog Theater)
• Well (Echo Theatre)
• Two special dishonorable mentions: one involved a carnival; and the other, eating cockroaches. They felt like bad marriages: I’ll just put them behind me. Far behind me.

Editor's Note: In the week between Christmas and New Year's, we'll run our looks back at the year in the performing arts. Coming up, look for the biggest theater and arts stories of the year; and the year in local performing arts photos. Margaret Putnam's year in dance is here; M. Lance Lusk's year in Shakespeare is here; Gregory Sullivan Isaacs' best of classical music and opera is here, and Mark Lowry's year in theater is here.