Best Character Actress

Past seasons have seen Lori Hansen play a lewd nun (Nine), and a failed poet, chorus member and disturbed nun (Suddenly Last Summer). Last fall Hansen eschewed her twisted-sister ways and turned in a nicely controlled performance as a wronged Cherokee bride in part one of The Kentucky Cycle. As another performer knelt by the side of a rustic bed and simulated the sounds of childbirth, Hansen told the moving story of her son’s arrival through suggestive movement and lyrical speech. Later, she demonstrated that she was capable of more than saintly forbearance, seeking revenge in a way that wound up casting a pall over her character’s entire family. Hansen always creates distinctive characters without letting them detract from the play’s bigger picture.