Circle Mirror Transformation

Synopsis

A windowless dance studio in a community center in Shirley, Vermont

Marty, a 55-year-old acting teacher, guides a diverse group of four students through a transformative six-week journey of self-discovery. In Annie Baker’s Circle Mirror Transformation, the seemingly simple acting exercises become catalysts for profound personal revelations and unexpected connections. As Marty, her husband James, teenager Lauren, newly divorced Schultz, and former actress Theresa engage in these exercises, their hidden desires, fears, and secrets gradually come to light.

Baker’s play masterfully blends drama with dark comedy and social realism, creating a microcosm of human experience within the confines of the mirrored dance studio. Through its episodic structure and linear narrative, the play peels back layers of its characters’ psyches, exploring the transformative power of theater and the complexities of human interaction. As the weeks progress, Circle Mirror Transformation offers a poignant and often humorous look at the ways in which we connect, grow, and change when given the space to be truly vulnerable.