One reason Hatcher likes living in the Twin Cities, he says, is our location between the coasts. It matters for someone who could likely be working on a play in New York and then jetting to Los Angeles to get a screenplay in shape. And in between, he still writes for Twin Cities stages. Some of his best are "Compleat Female Stage Beauty," "Tuesdays With Morrie" and the vastly underappreciated "Tyrone & Ralph," which was about the relationship between theater builders Guthrie and Rapson.

Runner-up: Alan Berks