It would be difficult to imagine a more low-key opening than the one in Annie Baker's comedy, Circle Mirror Transformation. Five adults walk silently onto the stage. They unroll yoga mats and lie down (face up). That's it. Nothing happens for at least 30 seconds (which seems like 30 minutes). Then the actors randomly count from one to 10. Here's the catch: if two people happen to say the same number simultaneously, they have to start over.
Not exactly a blockbuster beginning, is it? But it's entirely appropriate to playwright Annie Baker's purpose: to force people (onstage as well as in the audience) to be more aware of each other. As the moments tick by, by the group begins this task again. And again. Finally, a plus-sized woman named Marty lets us know that this is a creative drama class. She is the class instructor. She beams at her four students, an unlikely group of thespians. Only one of them, Theresa, has had any professional training. Schultz, another classmate, is a laid-off carpenter. He wears a worn t-shirt and long cargo shorts. The other guy, James, is Marty's husband. He's also a teacher. And there's Lauren, a shy, awkward high school student. Unfazed, Marty guides her class through a number of goofy creative exercises that has the participants whooping and spinning around the stage. The results are less than brilliant, but they sure are fun to watch. It's clear that Marty's work is cut out for her. In a number of ways, this play is perfectly suited for Boulevard Theater. A small professional theater that operates on a shoestring, Boulevard is often the starting point for many actors' careers. Production budgets are often as small as the stage, and the unpaid actors sometimes have to provide their own wardrobes. But many Boulevard "alums" graduate to join the casts of larger, relatively well-funded theaters all over Milwaukee. In its tiny theater space, Boulevard is a great place to see budding actors and old pros share their talents. One can easily imagine Circle's cast members doing real-life acting exercises like the ones in Baker's play.
Another of Boulevard's characteristics the use of minimal sets and props is also appropriate for this play. The playwright's emphasis seems to be on the goofy creative exercises, done again and again as week's progress. Along the way, Baker inserts tidbits of the characters' lives. However, she succeeds in making the audience more sympathetic to the characters with every successive class. By the play's end, the audience begins to root for the characters' success not necessarily on the stage, but in life.
The cast is uniformly solid. Particularly impressive is Michael Weber, who plays Schultz, the carpenter/wood carver. With the audience sitting within mere inches of his face, Weber conveys his emotions in small facial gestures as a film actor might do. Weber's hang-dog expression often brightens when Schultz discovers he has done something correctly. He is trying to start life afresh after a devastating divorce, and his heart isn't always into playing games. He falls for one of the other students, the manic Theresa (Beth Monhollen).
Of all the characters, Theresa expresses the greatest emotional range. As played by Monhollen, she is a petite ball of energy. She has wispy, short black hair and is attractive in her workout clothes. Visuals aside, Monhollen is convincing as a young woman who is trying to figure out what she wants. Actor Christine Pollnow plays Lauren, the youngest member of the cast. Pollnow has perfectly nailed a teenager's attitude, perspective and posture. Lauren is shy and somewhat withdrawn, but Pollnow remains a "presence" even when the audience's attention is focused elsewhere. Lauren is the only one brave enough to ask Marty if the class is "ever going to do any real acting." Marty (Kate Sherry) responds by saying she doesn't think so.
However, the husband-wife team of Marty and James (Kate Sherry and Jaime Jastrab) is somewhat problematic. This may be due to Mark Bucher's direction or even the script. As a long-married couple, Marty and James don't show enough warmth in the play's early scenes to suggest their eventual separation. And when Marty tells the story of how she and James first met, Jastrab doesn't demonstrate these qualities. Jastrab is a talented actor, and he is certainly capable of expanding his character. And this is really a minor quibble, after all.
Playwright Annie Baker demands patience in her audiences, and some of the scenes in Circle contain intentional pauses and moments of repetition. But in the end, a satisfying finish rewards audiences. Two students improvise a chance meeting in the future. (Of course, this is one more class exercise.) But this time, the characters show confidence about their futures, and they outline the necessary steps to getting where they want to go.
Please note that Circle Mirror Transformation has a very brief run, and it's well worth making the effort to score tickets while they are available.
