BE TRANSFORMED

F. J. Hartland

Five individuals have their lives changed forever through a creative dramatics class in Annie Baker’s Circle Mirror Transformation, now playing at the Pittsburgh Public Theatre.

Set at a dance studio in the small town of Shirley, Vermont, the new class is taught by Marty (Bridget Connors).  Her pupils are her husband James (John Shepherd), an angst-ridden teen Lauren (Lauren Blumenfeld), a New York City transplant Theresa (Daina Michelle Griffith) and the recently divorced Schultz (Daniel Krell).

Playwright Baker brilliantly uses theatre “games” to reveal the complex internal lives of these five people.  The purpose of the games is to bring them together as a cohesive unit; and they do—to a point.

At first, it is difficult getting accustomed to the long silences and continuous blackouts in Circle Mirror Transformation, but once you do, the play is a most engaging 80 minutes (without intermission).  There is humor; there is pathos.  And a wonderful ending twist!

Director Jesse Berger has assembled a very strong cast, and each has the opportunity to shine.

Griffith is full of life (and sexuality) as the former actress.  Connors does an excellent job of capturing the persona an encouraging acting teacher. 

Beautifully capturing the vulnerability and desperateness of a lonely man, Krell will break your heart.  Shepherd excellently portrays the anguish of a father struggling to reconnect with his estranged daughter…all while suffering from his own mid-life crisis.

But it is Bluemnfeld who steals the show with her performance a teen struggling between her unhappy home life and her personal dreams of glory.  Of all the characters who are “transformed” through the course of the play, hers is the longest arc.

The set by David M. Barber is stunning with its hard-wood floor and dance mirrors.  But is somewhat over-designed.  Much of it is left unused and is nothing more than window dressing.  It also creates some lengthy blackouts when the actors have to walk all the way downstage to pick up their personal belongings, then all the way upstage to leave through the only exit.

That being said, Circle Mirror Transformation is a very interesting and entertaining play with a superb cast…and that makes it well-worth seeing!

Circle Mirror Transformation continues through April 3.