Best New(ish) Local Theater Company: Moonstone Theatre Company

Sharon Hunter had a plan. The professional actor and director was going to launch her own theater company in 2020. That didn’t happen. Instead she started the St. Louis Theatre Community Task Force, bringing together artistic directors from across the area to discuss how to handle the pandemic and share ideas to keep theater alive. Eventually, Hunter did launch her Moonstone Theatre Company and has tackled some challenging shows, including David Auburn’s Proof, which is about struggles with mental illness. This season, she’s not backing down, with plans to stage Adam Rapp’s The Sound Inside, about two writers wrapped in a dark mystery by the fictions they create. —Rosalind Early