For D.C.’s avid area theatre-goers, the Helen Hayes Awards is a chance to locally honor some of the nation’s great theatre. For Post critic Peter Marks, it’s an opportunity to receive at least a scintilla of exposure to the shows he’s spent the past year avoiding. And for the dedicated theatrical practitioners who create these superlative works — it’s prom. And everyone is a winner at the Helen Hayes Awards. That’s what the abundance of liquor at the afterparty is there to ensure. But this year, D.C.’s premiere theatre awards show took it to heart, having arrived at a voter impasse over two of the bigger awards of the night, sensibly chose to hand out some extra hardware and honor some multiple winners. Even with the extras, host E. Faye Butler did her duty and brought the show in for a landing in a scant 120 minutes — truly deserving of an award herself. After all, those cocktails -– they do not quaff themselves.