Most true-to-itself theater company
In Boston's small theater scene, few companies hang entire seasons on plays you've never heard of. But few companies are as singular (and as refreshingly odd) as Rough and Tumble Theatre, which aspires to "theatre that doesn't suck." Skeptical of making theater some pointedly noble exercise, Rough and Tumble presents original work - either pieces created within the group itself, or unknown outside works adapted in company style.

The results have always been charming, from You Know Why You're Here, the high point of Boston Theater Marathon 5, to Silent Movie Play, a villain-and-damsel melodrama complete with live piano accompaniment. But Rough and Tumble reached a new level with Backwater: A Movie Play, in which it adapted an unproduced screenplay into a poignantly whimsical stage play that replicated such film conventions as panning shots and close-ups. Word of mouth was so good for that show, in fact, that the box office had to turn people away by the final weekend, proving that some risks are worth taking.

Rough and Tumble Theatre, www.rough-and-tumble.org.