Scot and Linda Whitney have worked wonders with their professional theater company Harlequin Productions, producing top-flight theater consistently since 1991 with many of the best actors from Seattle to Olympia. Olympia and Tacoma-based actors have told me that Harlequin is the best company in the area to work for, which has paid off for them in the form of thunderous standing ovations at almost every show (their subscriber base is fantastically loyal).

Formula is not always a complementary term when speaking of the arts, but Harlequin has a kind of formula that has worked well both for them and for their audiences. This formula includes a Shakespeare show every summer - invariably with an odd twist to it - summer rock and roll musical revues, including repeated performances of The Rocky Horror Show and A Rock and Roll Twelfth Night, a variation on Shakespeare's Twelfth Night with ... count ‘em ... 27 original songs sung by great singer/actors lampooning famous singers from Little Richard and Elvis to Madonna, and a Harlequin-written "Stardust" Christmas show almost every year.  Twenty-four seasons and counting.

What really makes Harlequin Oly's best theater company are its modern and contemporary dramas and comedies from such outstanding writers as Tennessee Williams, Israel Horovitz, Conor McPherson, and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright John Patrick Shanley. Harlequin is willing to take chances on offbeat and difficult plays such as Horovitz's Six Hotels, which tackled some of the most controversial political issues of the day, and Will Eno's absurdist and surrealistic Middletown.

The Whitneys cast their productions from near and far, searching out the best possible actors for any given product, but they also have an unofficial stable of local actors who can be counted upon to show up in many Harlequin shows and bring the house down with their performances. Among these favorites are Jason Haws, Christian Doyle, Dennis Rolly, David Wright, Russ Holm, Mari Nelson, Helen Harvester, LaVon Hardison, Scott C. Brown, and Maggie Ferguson-Wagstaffe.

Next up at Harlequin is Ibsen's realistic 19th century psychodrama Hedda Gabler, opening March 3.

The company also has its own improv group called Something Wicked that produces six comedy nights a year plus an annual South Sound Improv Comedy Festival.

HARLEQUIN PRODUCTIONS IN THE STATE AVENUE THEATER, 202 4th Ave. E., Olympia, 360.786.0151, harlequinproductions.org