Mark Adams is not one of the glittering directors who amazes his audiences with flash-in-the-pan pyrotechnics. His work is most striking for the fact that it is quiet, strong and practically invisible. All the work and rehearsals disappear in his shows and allow the actors and the script to take center stage, which is exactly where they should be. That was especially true of his production of Gore Vidal's timely political piece The Best Man, about a presidential campaign that looked creepily current, even though the script was written in the '60s. The most amazing part of Adams's direction, aside from the pitch-perfect cast he put together, was the ferocious undercurrent of energy he managed to infuse into what could have been a very dull play about politics. As it was, The Best Man became one of the most memorable productions of the season, thanks to its smart and very savvy director.