The country's magazines and newspapers have begun to turn out their year-end issues, including the obligatory lists rating artistic events of the last twelve months. Among these are a few "best of" tallies taken from the world of theatre.

Among those coming in for early praise are Elaine Stritch's one-person show At Liberty, The Producers and Metamorphoses. And receiving a surprising amount of brickbats is Edward Albee's once fairly well-received The Play About the Baby. John Simon of New York magazine was particularly kind to Playwrights Horizons, with three of the company's productions making his "best of" list.

Following are a selection of those highly opinionated (are highly variegated) honor rolls. (This article will be updated daily as new lists roll in).

TIME MAGAZINE
Top Ten Plays of the Year:
1. Metamorphoses
2. Topdog/Underdog
3. The Producers
4. The Glory of Living
5. The Last Five Years
6. Elaine Stritch at Liberty
7. King Hedley II
8. Urinetown
9. 42nd Street
10. The Drawer Boy
And the worst of the year: The Play About the Baby

NEW YORK MAGAZINE
Critic John Simon's best (and worst) of 2001
Best:
The Credeaux Canvas
Elaine Stritch: At Liberty
Lobby Hero
The Spitfire Grill
The Syringa Tree
Worst
Charles L. Mee's First Love, True Love, and Big Love
Harold Pinter Retrospective at Lincoln Center
The Play About the Baby
Thou Shalt Not
Topdog/Underdog —By Robert Simonson