We take back everything bad we've said about A.C.T.. Well, almost everything. Clybourne Park is a great choice of play, for its edginess, contemporary-ness, and wit, and the current production up on Geary Street is one you shouldn't miss. (It's been extended until February 20, so run, don't walk.)

For this show, A.C.T. is collaborating with CalShakes artistic director Jonathan Moscone, another great choice, and it may have been him who brought this play, written by Bruce Norris, to the ofttimes stodgy Carey Perloff. We were grateful that this wasn't another garden-variety British comedy or some other less-than-worthy revival, dusted off from someone's back shelf. This is a vital, exciting, and moving new American play in its West Coast premiere, and we hope it marks a shift in A.C.T.'s thinking as they put together upcoming seasons.