On Theater:

A play about pedophilia might have turned some people away, but those who watched “How I Learned to Drive” at Golden West College came away thoroughly moved and entertained.

As this column put it at the time, “This touchy subject is exceptionally well handled by Director Martie Ramm and her involving young cast. Paula Vogel’s entrancing play touches the heart without outraging the senses, and the Golden West performers display a commendable sensitivity in its production.”

Vogel’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play was the best of the five productions mounted at Golden West during 2009, a year in which most shows were staged in the college’s smaller Stage West Theater while the large Mainstage Theater was undergoing renovation.

Runner-up on the Golden West calendar was director Tom Amen’s production of a reimagined “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” about which we commented, “a grimly fascinating production in which Jekyll is tormented by the various forms of his more evil nature.

The four actors playing Hyde also appear as other characters in the play — and, in one memorable scene, appear together and transform simultaneously into the murderous monster.”

Ramm’s staging of Christopher Durang’s “Beyond Therapy” earned third-place honors, followed by Amen’s productions of “Rashomon” and “What the Bellhop Saw.”

As for distinguished performance honors, the summit was reached by Julie Patzer in “Beyond Therapy,” which drew these comments: “Patzer dives into the role of Charlotte with a furious zeal seldom encountered in local theater. An A-plus performance worth a dozen Snoopy hugs (which she gives her startled patients).”

Top actor laurels belong to Patrick Rowley in “How I Learned to Drive,” who earned this observation: “Rowley excels despite the playwright’s failure to fully sketch his background.”

Runners-up in the best actor and actress categories were Eric Davis as the bandit in “Rashomon” and Rebecca Wayne as the young girl in “How I Learned to Drive.”

Several other Golden West actors and actresses distinguished themselves during the year. Among them: Michelle Terrill, “Rashomon”; Amber Luallen, “Beyond Therapy”; David Chorley and Kim Brown, “What the Bellhop Saw”; and Sean Coutu, “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.”

TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Independent.