The Buffalo Infringement Festival came to a celebratory conclusion with a well attended closing night party at Nietzsche’s on Sunday night, including the distribution of the “Iffy Awards,” plaques fashioned from foam plates that comically recognized dubious festival accomplishments. Predictions for the festival’s success proved to be entirely accurate; more than 200 performances of diverse shows attracted good crowds, and the quality was impressive. Even the hottest weather of the year could not wilt enthusiasm.

Excitement about next year’s festival began right away, which was rather daunting for the organizers, who found themselves discussing ways to top themselves in 2007 while 2006 was still going full tilt.

The abundance of new faces among the performers bodes very well for the future of theater in Buffalo and was, certainly, among the most encouraging aspects of the festival. Also of note was the artistic complexity and intellectual depth of so much of the work—a refreshing change from the usual mix of theater offerings. In many instances, performers were clearly getting their first chances downtown, which, at times, was the bonus that justified frivolous work. At other times, it was a pleasure to see familiar actors in roles one might not have anticipated: Moira Keenan appearing as the title character in Romulus Linney’s Akhmatova, for example; or perennial good-girl Kelly Beuth as a variety of outrageous characters in Ramona and Juliet.

Scott Andrew Kurchak used the format of the festival as an opportunity to showcase ScottFree Theatre, reprising his original monologue My Life as an Ape at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, based on the Franz Kafka short story “A Report to an Academy,” and directing Romulus Linney’s play Akhmatova at Squeaky Wheel Media Arts Center, which depicts the interrogation of poet Anna Akhmatova after the death of Stalin. The two pieces reflect a level of intellectual reflection that is too often lacking in Buffalo’s theaters and was skillfully handled both by Kurchak and (in the case of Akhmatova) by a cast that, in addition to Moira Keenan, included Larry Smith, Joy Scime, Barry Shaffer and Mary McMahon.

Virginia Brannon was also an important festival presence. She appeared opposite David Autovino in The Staircase by Buffalonian Timothy McPeek, an intriguing dialogue in an imagined postwar American future. Brannon also directed Jean-Paul Sartre’s The Respectful Prostitute, featuring Elizabeth Gruber, Kahlil Gibran Jackson, Sean McCormack and Luke Wagner.

Matthew LaChiusa’s play, Fred’s Requiem, was built on a series of scenes each featuring characters who had been a part of a particular event in the life of recently deceased “Fred.” A comic piece, the play leads up to the moment when a risqué family secret is revealed to Fred’s son. Highly entertaining and nicely structured, the piece featured Thomas LaChiusa, Jan Ferington, Andrew Michalski, Jessica Huber, Lawrence Rowswell, Mara Westerling, Nick Dostal, Kate Germain, Ian M. Cap, Ed Tormay and Rob Schwartz.

A very young cast took on Holy Crap by Andrew Liegl and Breaking the Chain by Michael Bigelow Dixon and Val Smith, two comedy sketches presented by Totally Liegl Productions, directed by Liegl and featuring the youthful talent of Emily Pici, Candice Kogut, Lisa LeCuyer, Ryan O’Byrne, Jimi Konidis, Kelly Konecko and Paige Mingus. The presentation was good for several good chuckles.

Another new group appearing for the first time at the festival called themselves Brazen-Faced Varlets. Dedicated to strong roles for women, the varlets presented Ramona and Juliet by Shaun Northrip, a lesbian burlesque of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The fact that everyone in the company—Heather Fangsrud, Lara Haberberger and Kelly Beuth—all managed to keep up with the remarkable Katie White is proof of the strength of the company.

Mac Wellman’s Sincerity Forever was written specifically for young performers and got an enthusiastic rendering by Subversive Theatre Collective, which performed in a 1970s vintage Ford Mustang parked behind Quaker Bonnet Eatery on Allen Street, under the direction of Kurt Schneiderman.

It was not possible to attend every theater piece in the festival. Shows I did not see that nonetheless earned positive buzz included Queen Kong, which featured Dana Block as German film director Leni Riefenstahl and as the title character; The Truth Isn’t Always in Black and White by Trey Loe; and Petites Choses, the ever popular puppet performance by theatreFiguren.

This abbreviated litany gives a hint as to the wide variety of offerings, which additionally extend beyond the theater into dance, music, poetry, standup comedy—I even saw a fire performer. The quality was impressive and does beg the question: How can the Infringement Festival top itself next year? I would suggest by providing more of the same—which is to say, by providing more that is different. Well done!