A scene in the middle of transition

Cynthia Strickland (left) and Barbara Meek in Trinity Repertory Company's production of "The Clean House." (Mark turek)

It's always a slightly odd exercise to talk about "the year in theater" from January to December, because theater seasons don't follow that calendar. But it seems particularly odd in 2007, which from start to finish (that is, from the middle of last season to the middle of this one) has felt like a time of transition in Boston theater.

We began the year knowing that the artistic directors of our two large resident companies would both be leaving, but not knowing who would replace them. Now one shoe has dropped, with the news that Peter DuBois, resident director of New York's Public Theatre, will take the helm at the Huntington Theatre Company; we're still waiting for the other shoe at the American Repertory Theatre, where the search continues, with little information leaking out from the Harvard-led search committee.

DuBois has already said he plans to continue the Huntington's commitment to developing new work, and he also wants to open the theater up to a broader (and presumably younger) audience. Like the departing Nicholas Martin, DuBois comes with strong New York connections, including his boss at the Public, artistic director Oskar Eustis. Everything he's said so far bodes well for the continued health of the Huntington, but it's too soon to know exactly how the theater's identity will evolve under his guidance.

Martin, meanwhile, has his next gig lined up: He's taking over the Williamstown Theatre Festival, replacing the charming and dedicated Roger Rees. Martin has a long history with Williamstown and a recent success there; his warm, lively staging of "The Corn Is Green," with Kate Burton playing opposite her son, was one of the Berkshires' best productions this year. I wish I could be as enthusiastic about the Huntington's recent offerings; though I liked several of them, from Noel Coward's frothy "Present Laughter" to Ronan Noone's touching "Brendan," only the New York import "Well," Lisa Kron's hilarious and moving story about illness and family, makes it into my top picks for the year in Boston.

Actually, the ART has only one on this list, too: Racine's rarely staged "Britannicus," directed with sharp-edged vigor by departing artistic director Robert Woodruff on his way out the door. Woodruff is back to working in New York now, but his intelligent passion as a director is missed in Cambridge. And what little we know about the ART's future is worrisome: Neither Woodruff's colleague Gideon Lester, the ART's acting artistic director, nor his kindred spirit in experimental theater, SITI Company's Anne Bogart, is still in the running for his job.

I've misplaced my tea leaves, but that looks like a signal that Harvard is pushing the ART in a less adventurous direction. Granted, the company's experiments don't always work, but they're nevertheless essential to a vibrant theater scene - and, when they do come together, they're thrilling. Boston's theater needs that kind of risk-taking.

It could also use a true repertory company, which the ART, despite its name, barely is anymore. Here as elsewhere, it's expensive - perhaps fatally so - to maintain a resident troupe of actors, but you don't need to look any farther than Providence to see the rich rewards for this kind of commitment. By growing together through many years and many different kinds of shows, Trinity Repertory Company's actors have developed complex and real relationships that can only deepen their work onstage. No doubt that's one reason that two of my five out-of-town picks come from Trinity, which is humming along nicely under Curt Columbus's leadership: "Our Town" and Sarah Ruhl's "The Clean House."

Williamstown also gets a second nod, for the bizarre but irresistible one-man show that's been a dream project of B.D. Wong's for decades: "Herringbone." Maybe it's because I was there the night Wong gashed himself and had to stop the show to get 30 stitches, but the actor's complete commitment to this eccentric one-man musical made it unforgettable for me.

I'll also remember "Cleopatra" at Shakespeare & Company, mostly for Tina Packer's vibrant, fully alive performance in the title role. Closer to home, the Actors' Shakespeare Project staged a "Titus Andronicus" that was all the more wrenching for its surprising (and welcome) lack of gore.

But when I think about Shakespeare in 2007, mostly I'll fret about what's to become of Shakespeare on the Common, the free program that the Citi Performing Arts Center pitilessly slashed this year. Director Steven Maler's "Midsummer Night's Dream" wasn't my favorite of the three (!) I saw this year (it loses out to Boston Theatre Works' fleet-footed staging, but beats the leaden version at Shakespeare & Company). Still, no one can question Maler's dedication to bringing high-quality Shakespeare to audiences that would never see it otherwise. Note to Citi Center: Invest your energy here, not in defending Joe Spaulding's salary.

Speaking of Spaulding, it would be nice to see the Citi Wang Theatre dark a little less often - and that goes for the Opera House, the Citi Shubert Theatre, and the Colonial Theatre, too. Sure, we had a couple of fine touring shows, notably "Doubt," with Cherry Jones's outstanding performance as a conflicted nun, and the admirably stark "Sweeney Todd." (If only stage productions had the kind of publicity machines that have cranked up for Tim Burton and Johnny Depp's screen version.) But too often these big, beautiful houses are leaving theater lovers out in the cold.

On the positive side, there was some powerful work at the Boston Center for the Arts this year, from a pleasing variety of smaller companies: the imaginary-friend tragicomedy "Mr. Marmalade," the body-image satire "Fat Pig," and the epic "Kentucky Cycle." The BCA was also host to the one show I most regret missing this season: Company One's Toni Morrison adaptation, "The Bluest Eye."

In an even smaller venue, the underused studio next to the BU mainstage, Jon Lipsky's "King of the Jews" was another standout, with an amazingly strong ensemble bringing Leslie Epstein's Holocaust-era novel to life. And the Lyric Stage Company, always reliable, hit one out of the park with Scott Edmiston's smart take on Christopher Durang's reincarnation comedy "Miss Witherspoon."

So what kind of year has it been? Well, ask me again in June.

Louise Kennedy can be reached at kennedy@globe.com.