“Shipwrecked! An Entertainment” at Penguin Rep

The best theater sweeps you away, making you forget the drive, the line at the box office and the anticipation before the house lights dim. By that barometer, Penguin Rep’s “Shipwrecked! An Entertainment: The Amazing Adventures of Louis de Rougemont (As Told by Himself)” was among the year’s very best theater.

Donald Margulies’ spellbinder, splendidly directed by Tom Caruso on Sarah Lambert’s well-appointed spare set, had a cast of three: Steven Hauck as the title character, ably assisted by Edena Hines and David Arkema. The trio made the most of props and bits of costume, rewarding the audience’s imagination with a compelling story of a man who may or may not have been marooned for decades in the South Pacific.

The image that remains, though, is a simple one: When Arkema dropped to his knees, slipped on a ski cap, widened his eyes and stuck out his tongue to become Bruno, the faithful dog, among the most loveable and indelible characters the theater year provided.