Narrowing down 2009's sensational stage portrayals into a list of 12 "favorites" is a hopeless task, really, so don't take this as any kind of last word on the subject; you'll find mention of amazing stage work all throughout my year-end coverage. Still, here's hoping you were able to catch at least a few of the following performances, which helped underline just how crazy with theatrical talent our area actually is.

James Bleecker II in Thom Pain (based on nothing)The Harrison Hilltop Theatre's latest offering is the 65-minute solo presentation Thom Pain (based on nothing). Yet its title seems more than a little inaccurate, because by the time this rather astounding monologue reaches its climax, it seems to have been based on everything: truths and fabrications and suppositions and dreams, and on the audience's expectations and perceptions not only of theatre, but of life itself.