The setting is realistic: a rehearsal space with mirrored walls (one reflects the audience); a clock showing times between 1pm and 4pm; an alcove with a first-aid box fixed to the wall (Samal. If you're into reading things that really make you stop and think, then this is perfect for you! . Several times, they lie on their backs on the studio floor trying to count collectively but consecutively to ten without stepping on one anothers numbers. Circle Mirror Transformation By Annie Baker Winner of 2010 Obie Award for Best New American Play April 13-May 8, 2011 Director Adrianne Moore Details Playwright Annie Baker Director Adrianne Moore Play Dates April 13 - May 8, 2011 Description Stage Salt Lake Acting Company's production of "Circle Mirror Transformation" draws grace from awkward moments. Rounding out the ensemble we have Lauren (Sydney Speltz), a quiet but bright teenager who just wants to get past all the silly bonding games and get to the real acting. Report DMCA Overview As the oblivious leader of the four-member class, the middle-aged woman (played with a perfect balance of empathy and tone-deaf self-involvement by Deirdre OConnell) tries to inspire her tiny band of followers to explore their inner psychology as a prerequisite to emotionally honest acting. Also, I spent a summer doing exactly this, so it really hit home. What a damn producible play! Research the production history of Circle Mirror Transformation, and the critic's response to the series of plays. a windowless dance studio in rural vermont. Indeed, so many members of the cast, the creative team and the If the difference between your script and a parody of your script is a pause that last 2.394 seconds (instead of 2.396 seconds), it's time to write a second draft. That each of the students simply follows her lead, rarely questioning her motives or their acting education, rings too true. It was voted one of the top ten plays of 2009 by the New York Times, Time Out and the New Yorker. This was a really interesting play. ROCHESTER, NY - "Absorbing, unblinking, and sharply funny," according to the New York Times, Annie Baker's Circle Mirror Transformation uncovers the hidden truths, desires, and heart-wrenching regrets of its characters through seemingly innocent acting exercises. The Student Life is the oldest college newspaper in Southern California, serving the Claremont Colleges since 1889. But as Lauren (Tracee Chimo), the socially maladroit but emotionally acute teenager whos the youngest person in the mismatched group of players notes plaintively, its not at all clear how any of this is going to help anyone learn how to be an actor. Performance schedule: Tuesdays through Fridays at 7:30 PM, Saturdays at . Telling personal stories borrowed from their partners in a first-person form provides a rather sweet, halting demonstration of how the students get to know one another. Quietly tugs you into a very naturalistic world, then surprises you with its innate theatricality. Circle Mirror Transformation is a lovely evening of theatre: fun and funny, smart and knowing, and hugely generous about the imperfect characters Baker portrays so simply and clearly. It just goes about teaching this life lesson in a very interesting way. Circle Mirror Transformation is, in a sense, a piece of theatre about theatre, . Circle Mirror Transformation runs through Nov. 5; tickets are $12-30. James is devastated by his daughters silence and her sudden allegiance with Marty against him. Toomsen sees the strengths in each of these performers and musters them to work quite well as a unit. Having now both read and seen this show, I really think that while the device of acting exercises to explore who the characters are is a really interesting one, the show is just too long. Recall The Karate Kid in which the sensei, Mr. Miyagi, makes his student, Daniel, wax cars and paint fences with very precise, repetitive motions and hold the crane pose for extended periods long before he ever practices a karate air chop. But the big denouement comes with the exercise in which each person is to write down a secret that has been previously shared with no one else. While Theresa is doing her bit, Schultz is hammering her with his gaze from upstage. [7], Circle Mirror Transformation was developed at the Sundance Institute in 2008, directed by Sam Gold[8] and the New York Theatre Workshop,[9] with additional support from the Sundance Institute Time Warner Storytelling Fellowship. Got a tip? The opinions expressed are those of individual authors who are solely responsible for their statements and as such are not those of the staff and management of Berkshire Fine Arts or its affiliates. The two play a very tense silent scene while not exchanging a single word. I would really love to see a stage production of this play. All photos by Jay Yamada.