Pulitzer Prize winner Annie Baker’s Circle Mirror Transformation lights up The Gate Theatre
By Brian Bowe
I ’m very much on the outside of the theatre world — movies are more my racket, for which you can blame my meagre funds and short attention span — but even I, for many years, have heard the name Annie Baker being bandied about like the second coming of, if not Christ, Chekhov. Advertised as the hip playwright; she’s into the mundane and magical moments that make up life — quiet but deep, dark but quirky.
The American playwright is one of the leading voices in contemporary theatre. Her play, The Flick, set in an ailing cinema in Massachusetts, won her the Pulitzer Prize, in 2014, and was hailed as “a love letter to theatre and liveness itself” by Lyn Gardner of the Guardian.
For Irish fans of Baker this summer had a lot to offer. Her debut feature film, Janet Planet — that’s right, she’s gone from Putizer to popcorn — released in Irish cinemas this July, following The Gate Theatre’s very successful month-long run of her 2009 work Circle Mirror Transformation, the play which won Baker the Obie Award for Best New American Play.
Before heading into Circle Mirror Transformation, I tried to familiarise myself with Baker’s work. But, let me tell you, hunting down modern play scripts ain’t easy! Nowhere I looked seemed to stock her work, even those shops cluttered up with great, dusty unstable stacks of books from every corner. Nada! So I went into it blind — apart from seeing the glowing reviews from the Irish Times and the Guardian, which were hard to miss as they were plastered across the side of most buses in the city centre.
Circle Mirror Transformation is one of four plays Baker based in the fictional town of Shirley, Vermont. It’s centred around five individuals taking drama classes at a community centre. The most remarkable aspect of this particular production was how the Gate Theatre reimagined the staging. You essentially have the stage planted in the middle of the space, with seating on either side. It creates a startling sense of intimacy between the audience and the performers, but also, and most curiously, between audience sections; you’re positioned straight in front of them, noticing who’s giggling at what — Sally Rooney was sitting in the section across from mine, and you bet I was glancing over the odd time to gauge her sense of humour — and who’s on the verge of nodding off.
Róisín McBrinn directs Baker’s sharp script, buoyed up by several strong performances. Making up our five main characters are Niamh Cusack, as Marty, the drama teacher; Hazel Doupe plays teenager Lauren, who’s eager to learn some “real acting”; a terrific Imogen Doel as Theresa, arguably the best role of the play; Marty Rea, as the tragic comic foil Schultz; and Risteárd Cooper (best known for spoof football punditry comedy show Après Match) as James, Marty’s husband, who seems more interested in working through marital baggage then improv games.
There’s a sparseness to Baker’s taut script, relying on short scenes that are intercut with stage blackouts. This use of form gives the whole production a wicked pace that compliments the moments of comedy. Each drama class becomes a sort of therapy session, with characters revealing hidden sides of themselves. As well, at 2 hrs and 15 minutes, including an interval, Circle Mirror Transformation rolls along nicely, never outstaying its welcome, which is something I can’t say about a lot of theatre I’ve seen over the years — soz, Shakespeare xo.
Nothing about the play really surprised me, truth be told. Going to the theatre as rarely as I do, it’s like I expect, or at least hope, to be blown away every time. It’s an unfair expectation seeing as most of the stuff I see at the movies is hot garbage! Though nothing blew me away, it’s all strong stuff, and the ending is something special; it’s the first time you really feel the play take off, just a shame it coincides with its landing. Nonetheless, Circle Mirror Transformation is a funny and heartfelt work, and it certainly encouraged me to venture back out to look harder for Baker’s playscripts. If you missed its run, I strongly urge you to check out Janet Planet. It’s gained a terrific amount of buzz since premiering at Telluride Film Festival last year.
