A theater workshop class reveals fears, foibles, fraught relationships and secrets in True North Theatre’s production of Annie Baker’s “Circle Mirror Transformation.”
The play, directed by Tellis K. Coolong, has a slow first act that felt glacial at Sunday’s matinee when the heat failed in the Cyrus Pavilion Theatre at the University of Maine during a June cold snap that plunged the temperature outside into the low 50s.
Despite that inconvenience, Coolong wrings all the pathos from Baker’s story about four people of varying ages taking a six-week class from Kathryn Ravenscraft (Marty) at a community center in Shirley, Vermont. While Baker’s 2010 Obie-award winning script very slowly reveals its characters, Coolong drags the pacing out by having the actors leave the stage and return between some scenes rather than simply having them remain on stage with blackouts. Tightening the pacing could cut 10 to 15 minutes off the running time, something Sunday’s shivering audience would have appreciated greatly.
Actors Lee Bonta (James), Blaine Shaw (Schultz ), Jennifer Snow (Theresa) and Sophia E. Mullins (Lauren), along with Ravenscraft, create a believable ensemble. The Pavilion’s intimate setting, where the audience sits on three sides of the stage, lets theatergoers feel like they are spying on the class that is a series of games rather than scenes from plays.
The cast is equally talented, but Mullins as a sullen 16-year-old, whose homelife is in disarray, stands out a bit from the others. She carries Lauren’s anger like Peanuts’ Pigpen travels around surrounded by a cloud of dust. Mullins slowly lets go of that hostility like an animal shedding its skin. It is amazing to watch.
The technical work by set and lighting designer Daniel Bilodeau, sound designer Christopher Duff and costume designer Mark Muir perfectly complement Coolong’s vision for the show, although why some characters change clothes over the six-week class and others don’t is a bit distracting.
What “Circle Mirror Transformation” really needs is a Barry Berkman, the hit man in the HBO series “Barry.” Part of the appeal of Baker’s play is the characters are ordinary people, all at some sort of crossroad in their lives. The class helps them choose the next road, but Baker and Coolong take too long to get these characters there.
Despite that flaw, this show deserves an audience once it warms up or the heat is back on. True North continues to offer Greater Bangor theater lovers one classic show a year, including “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” and “The Odd Couple,” along with relatively new quirky shows like “Circle Mirror Transformation” and “The Moors.” Its offerings are unique in the Bangor theater scene, always of high quality and worth the trip to Orono.
True North Theatre’s production of “Circle Mirror Transformation” will be performed at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Cyrus.
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the time of Friday and Saturday’s performances. The production will take place at 7 p.m. those days.