August: Osage County, Schenectady Civic Players
My absolute favorite show of 2024 was Schenectady Civic Players’ triumphant production of
August: Osage County. Before seeing the production at Schenectady Civic Playhouse, I had
read the play but had never seen it performed. August Osage County is an extremely
challenging play to produce and I was so thrilled with how well Schenectady Civic rose to
the occasion! The complex, three-story set was not overly crowded, the entire, large
ensemble cast had excellent chemistry, and the lead actress, Carol Charniga, portrayed the
drug-addled family matriarch superbly. It also must be said that the horrible consistency of
the show’s prop casserole still haunts me nine months later. (I say this as high praise).
Schenectady Civic Theater deserves nothing but accolades for this very demanding piece of
theater that was handled perfectly by the entire cast and crew.
Seared, Capital Repertory Theatre
A close contender for my favorite play of 2024 is Capital Repertory Theatre’s production of
Seared. This fantastic dramedy about clashing restaurateurs had a phenomenal cast led by
Caesar Samayoa as the stubbornly idealistic head chef, with the equally talented and
extremely funny Jovan Davis in a supporting role as the restaurant’s waiter. But the most
impressive part of Seared was Brian Prather’s set design, which transformed the Rep’s
stage into a fully functioning kitchen where actors could cook onstage. If that’s not enough,
the sheer detail in the set and the props, including a mess of food containers dated for
freshness and safety, ensured that the audience felt like they were watching real
restaurateurs in a real professional kitchen. The complex and realistic set, coupled with an
exceptional cast, made this play an immersive and riveting slice-of-life show that deserves
the utmost praise.
Web, Sand Lake Center for the Arts
I am surprised not to have seen Sand Lake Center for the Arts’s production of Web on more
year-end lists of theater favorites and award nominees. This was a superb regional premier
of a play by Capital District native Brendan Mack, about an adult version of the heroine from
Charlotte’s Web struggling with her mental health and her faulty memories of childhood
while on trial for the murder of her infant son. Perhaps the strange and dark plot is part of
the reason it hasn’t received more attention, but this fantastical drama was an immense
success that took many tropes of the courtroom thriller and mixed them up in refreshing
ways. As a childhood fan of Charlotte’s Web, I was also very pleased with the way that Web
used and adapted its source material. The overall stellar cast, led by Maggie Córdova and
Adam Barnes, aptly tackled difficult acting challenges (like portraying barnyard animals) and
difficult subject matter (like abuse and infanticide). This production more than earned its
place in my top three local productions of 2024.