Arena Stage

The city’s theatrical grande dame and a pioneer in the American resident theater movement, Arena has emerged from more than a decade of torpor. Blessed (and cursed) with an affluent establishment audience, artistic director Molly Smith disappointed some critics by programming unchallenging audience-pleasers. A two-season exile made the company’s work feel more uneven still, but a triumphant homecoming to a glamorously rehabbed facility, complete with a lovely 200-seat new-play incubator space, marked a change.