Most Valuable Players

Dirk Van Allen

On the scene since: 1984

MVP for: State Theater Co., Austin Playhouse

Recent Roles: Hucklebee, The Fantasticks, AP, 2001; Sid, Light Up the Sky, AP, 2001; Jack, The Weir, State, 2000; Duncan, A Macbeth, State, 2000; various, The Good Doctor, State, 1999; Will Kidder, The Young Man from Atlanta, State, 1999.

Honors: Payne nomination, The Weir; Critics Table nominations, Light Up the Sky, Young Man From Atlanta, Last Night of Ballyhoo.

The Viscount of Vexation, the Earl of Exasperation. This longtime stalwart of director Don Toner's stable of actors may be a pussycat offstage, but the fun begins when he gets flustered onstage. Van Allen will bellow, he'll bawl, he'll stew 'til you swear you see steam coming out of his ears. Where comic bluster is concerned, he's royalty -- at once crabby and lovable. Van Allen frequently puts this talent to use playing gung-ho, hail-fellow-well-met businessmen, but he can also portray the darker aspects of that type, as he proved so feelingly in The Young Man From Atlanta.