And all must have prizes . . .

I'm a contributor to the Independent Reviewers of New England Awards, and yet every year I'm shocked, shocked! by at least some of the nominees (no, I'm not going to say who, God bless 'em), as well as some of the gaps in the nominees. It just goes to show ya there's no accountin' fer opinyuns!

Still, the weakest aspect of any award program is the obvious limiting effect of its structure; there are generally more people worthy of recognition than can possibly be accommodated - and the categories themselves are notoriously amorphous.

So I'm going to continue my practice of simply listing my favorite performances - be they leading, supporting, or "bit" - of the last month or so; already, just a month into the year, there has already been plenty of memorable acting on Boston stages.

So without further ado - the Best Performances of the First Month of the 2007 Boston Theatah Season . . .

Dick Latessa (Firs), Jeremiah Kissel (Pischchik), The Cherry Orchard, Huntington Theatre

Merritt Janson (Junia, at left), Britannicus, American Repertory Theatre

Susanne Nitter (Gilda), Gabriel Kuttner (Otto) and Diego Arciniegas (Leo), Design for Living, Publick Theater

Brendan McNab (Priest), June Baboian (Monica), See What I Wanna See, Lyric Stage

Christopher Michael Brophy (Eadric), Silence, The New Rep