I was once asked a question about the theater. “What would you rather see?” my colleague wanted to know . . . “A strong performance in a weak play? Or a weak performance in a strong play?” Well, that’s an easy one. I’d much rather see a great performance in a play that isn’t all it could be, than watch a brilliant play be marred by performances that are not up to snuff. Because, in the end, nothing beats a really great performance. Which brings us to Alfred Uhry’s Pulitzer-winning "Driving Miss Daisy," currently running (for one more weekend) at Cinnabar theater. "Driving Miss Daisy" is a beloved, genuinely groundbreaking play that has been staged so often it no longer feels groundbreaking - just sort of safe and cozy and comfortable. But, in Cinnabar’s crisp, pristine production, it is the exceptionally good acting that makes the show feel, if not exactly fresh, then well worth seeing - or seeing again, as the case may be. Directed with thrift and polish by Nathan Cummings, Daisy is the tale of an elderly southern matron who’s forced, after one-too-many car accidents, to accept the services of an amiable chauffer named Hoke - and a long, complex relationship is established, carrying the two mismatched associates across the fifties and sixties, right down the middle of the civil rights movement. As Daisy, Laura Jorgenson, is pitch-perfect, and the equally splendid Dorian Lockett capture’s Hoke’s inner wisdom, and his quietly brimming sense of humor. Told in a series of vignettes spanning a quarter century, Cinnabar’s staging of this old favorite - with solid support from John Browning as Miss Daisy’s steady son Booly - sails smoothly along on a fluffy slipstream of actorly assurance. And that’s a good thing. And that brings is to Christopher Durang’s "Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike," currently playing at Main Stage West, in Sebastopol. The unconventional comedy won the Best Play Tony in 2013, in part for the exuberant acting challenges the play poses for its six performers, with complex monologues and a few outrageous costume requirements. One character, for example, spends most of the show in only his boxer shorts. Revolving around three middle-aged siblings whose Chekhov-loving parents have recently died, the appealingly offbeat comedy employs masterfully complex language, blended with sharp one-liners and crackpot characterizations. You have to be good to pull this off, or it could make the play itself seem bad - but in the Main Stage West production, the audience is in very good hands. Vanya, played by a gently sad-sack Eric Thompson, is a cranky curmudgeon who lives with sister Sonia, marvelously played by Madeleine Ashe. Both are lonely and resentful after years of caring for their parents while sister Masha pursues her career as a movie star. Masha is Elly Lichenstein, who keeps her flashy character comfortably grounded while still chewing the scenery wonderfully. Naomi Sample is a joy to watch as the keen-eyed housecleaner Cassandra, who claims to be clairvoyant, warning of coming changes in everyone’s lives. Masha soon arrives from Hollywood for a visit, with her dim actor boy-toy Spike in tow - he’s Tyler Costin, flat-out hilarious, in or out of his clothes. As the youthful Nina, the next-door neighbor and longtime fan of Masha, Ivy Rose Miller practically glows with star-struck innocence and game-changing optimism. Director Sheri Lee Miller, who has an established knack for bringing out the best in her actors, guides this production with as much attention to the characters’ underlying emotions as to the comedic elements in Durang’s loopy and literate script, proving once again that strong acting, whether in a drama or comedy, a strong script or a weak script, is always a play’s heart and soul. "Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike" runs Thursday–Sunday through Nov. 16 at Main Stage West - mainstagewest.com.