If one were to visit Boston’s official Theater District—and stop there—one might think big-ticket, nationally touring productions like The Lion King are all we’ve got. And yes, we have those (and love them). But our theater scene is as rich and varied as our city, with local companies like SpeakEasy quietly producing some truly outstanding work every year. Case in point: SpeakEasy founder and producing artistic director Paul Daigneault scored a well-deserved Norton Award for Sustained Excellence this year—excellence demonstrated by productions like this past season’s New England premiere stagings of Tribes (which took home a few awards of its own) and The Whale.