Shultz is a socially awkward and recently divorced carpenter, Theresa is an . Circle Mirror Transformation continues through April 16, 2022, at Custom Made Theatre Co., performed at the Phoenix Theatre, 414 Mason Street, Suite 601, San Francisco. I found myself admiring Baker's sensitivity while hungering for a bit more theatrical attack All this emerges with a good deal of subtlety through the students' enactment of each other's situations. They write deep, dark secrets (anonymously) on scraps of paper and listen, sitting in a circle on the floor, as the confessions are read aloud. 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. Brenda Cisneros as Lauren (facing away), Alfred Muller as Schultz, Emily Keyishian as Marty, Lauren Dunagan as Theresa, David Boyll as James. It seems normal with important revelations all leading up until that final jab at the end. While Theresa is doing her bit, Schultz is hammering her with his gaze from upstage. And why I'm so stubborn! Baker writes with a simple . New York, NY, Accessibility Statement Terms Privacy |StageAgent 2020. Circle Mirror Transformation (plot summary) Annie Baker's "Circle Mirror Transformation" is an actor's play. let's all everyone take a deep breath. Mastering a skill is often an arduous and indirect process. Report DMCA Overview 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. Note: Those who attend the Sun, May 1 performance of "Circle Mirror Transformation" are invited to stay after the show for a free talkback with cast and creative team members who can share their own insights about transforming Baker's script into their own performance of the piece. Lauren and Schultz participate in an exercise where they are supposed to have met each other ten years after the conclusion of . CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION is the kind of unheralded gem that sends people into the streets babbling and bright-eyed with the desire to spread the word. But she persists, like the soulful artist she believes herself to be, and ends the six-week class by asking Lauren and Schultz to act out one final improvisation, in which they meet one another 10 years later and share news of their lives. Reverberates with seduction and sorrowthe plays final scene is devastatingly gentle. Village Voice. From reading. Smith is controlled and thoughtful; Crouch is impulsive and bent . While the characters start as strangers, the Pomona students playing them are dear friends. Circle Mirror Transformationis a lovely evening of theatre:fun and funny, smart and knowing, and hugely generous about the imperfect characters Baker portrays so simply and clearly. But its cool to see the way a show can transform, and the ways that weve transformed it.. Circle Mirror Transformation plays at Playwrights Horizons' Peter Jay Sharp Theater, 416 W. 42nd St., through Sun 11/15. Still, the theatre nerd in me mostly appreciated this. If you're going to read an Annie Baker play, I actually highly recommend the Flick. This production is a perfect marriage of script and director. To Teach and to Mentor: Toward Our Collective Future (2013), Feeling Womens Culture: Womens Music, Lesbian Feminism, and the Impact of Emotional Memory (2012), Performing Jewishness In and Out of the Classroom (2012), Casual Racism and Stuttering Failures: An Ethics for Classroom Engagement (2012), On Publics: A Feminist Constellation of Keywords (2011), Colleague-Criticism: Performance, Writing, and Queer Collegiality (2009), Feminist Performance Criticism and the Popular: Reviewing Wendy Wasserstein (2008), Teaching and Mentoring, for Grad Students and New Faculty, What Makes a Jewish Theatre Artist (2013), Performing Que(e)ries Part IV: Holly Hughes in conversation with Jill Dolan (2013), Feminism, Utopia, and Performance: The Progressives Corner (2012), Feminist Performance Festival Roundtable (2011), For Your Viewing Pleasure: Gender, Sexuality, and Popular Culture. All performances at the Hal Todd Theatre on the SJSU Campus.