Sometimes, when we watch the work of a truly good actor, it seems impossible the actor could be in any way different from the character they are playing. When you see their face again in another work, it is sometimes shocking to see that they are in fact acting. They aren't merely walking and talking on a stage but are transforming themselves into different people. This year, Kelsey Milbourn exhibited just this dexterity as an actor, first in Undermain Theatre's The Thanksgiving Play and then in Stage West's Ada and the Engine. In the first, she played ditzy, self-obsessed and iPhone-obsessed actress Alicia with such conviction that it seemed only likely that Milbourn herself was that type of person (much as we would like to hope otherwise). And yet, two months later she transformed into Ada Lovelace, a 19th-century mathematician and the total opposite of her Thanksgiving Play character. Both performances were riveting but in completely different ways, demonstrating the breadth of Milbourn's talent.