When a play is so rooted in realness, there’s something for everyone to enjoy, take away or reflect on. Annie Baker’s Obie Award-winning Circle Mirror Transformation is one such play. This production by Next Act Theatre is under the direction of artistic director Cody Estle, who says in his program notes that Baker’s play “is about human behavior and a deep need for connection.” It’s also a play about theater.
Many of Baker’s works are set in the fictional town of Shirley, Vermont, as is this one. Here we see Marty (Tami Workentin), an acting teacher, kicking off a long dreamed-of adult acting class at the local community center. Her class brings together four locals, each with baggage and a dire need for connection. There’s the recently-divorced Schultz (Reese Madigan), timid high schooler Lauren (Chloe Attalla), experienced actor Theresa (Elyse Edelman), and Marty’s unenthused husband, James (Mark Ulrich).
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Over the six-week acting class, we see these characters – who all feel so very real – evolve. Confidence grows, relationships ebb and flow, and truths are revealed. We find ourselves invested in these very normal people. The audience laughs with them, at them, and tears up alongside them. These are recognizable personalities, experiences and emotions. This normalcy makes for a mighty realistic play, thanks both to Baker’s script and the exceptional talent Next Act has assembled.
First, there’s Tami Workentin’s Marty, emotive and over-the-top with eccentricities. Workentin seems right at home in Marty’s barefootedness and surprising emotional arc. She’s also just straight-up hilarious when she leans into the stereotype of an artsy drama instructor. As Schultz, Reese Madigan deftly becomes the nice guy – or maybe the guy who likes to think he’s the “nice guy.” Madigan does this from the inside out, with subtle yet palpable inner work.
As 16-year-old Lauren, Chloe Attalla has a fantastic way of capturing the mannerisms of a self-conscious teenager. Elyse Edelman’s Theresa is eager and earnest, yet not truly as self-assured as her theatricality would have the others believe. Edelman portrays Theresa’s nuances very nicely – and she’s a grade-A “hooper.” As James, Mark Ulrich gets to play with lots of feelings –crotchety, giddy, intensely vulnerable – and he does it all so well.
Nearly the entirety of the Circle Mirror Transformation involves Marty leading her misfit class in wacky theater games – a delight to relive, if you’ve ever dabbled in acting. The way the action unfolds on stage is brilliant. We see a chronological series of moments that occur over the course of the six-week class. The lights dim to black after each interaction, making you wonder what scenario the characters will find themselves in next: sprawled on the floor, mid-monologue, embodying inanimate objects, or having an entire conversation where the only word is “goulash.” These theater games are silly, but they often get at something sincere.
Lighting design (Maaz Ahmed), sound design (Josh Schmidt), props (Jim Guy), projections (Katie Anderson) and costumes (Jason Orlenko) work like a well-oiled machine to show the passage of time and keep the story moving forward. Scenic design by Jeffrey D. Kmiec is particularly impressive, as the stage is transformed into a community center room.
A key element of the space is a mirror on the far wall, reflecting the players and the audience. It’s helpful in a practical sense – seeing the actors’ expressions when their backs are to the audience – and impactful in a metaphoric sense of reflection and connection to each other. We see ourselves in these people, as well as in the mirror. And do we leave a little bit transformed? I like to think so.
Circle Mirror Transformation is on stage through May 18, 2025 at Next Act Theatre.
