Five strangers gather to embark on a unique journey together in a creative drama class for adults. Circle Mirror Transformation is one of the many games played on stage during the show. You may recognize some of the games, as they are played everywhere from theatre classes to corporate retreats. They were created as tools to enhance focus, creativity, confidence, teamwork, communication and connection.
For the individuals who have enrolled in the class that Baker has created, acting is merely a pretext. Each has come to find something. They don’t really assume they will, but what do they have to lose? Schultz (Abe Brown) is recently divorced and would like to be more of an artist. Lauren (Miel Tafoya) is a 16-year-old hiding in her hoodie. Theresa (Mikala Martinez) has finally abandoned New York and her dreams of professional acting. James (David Pérez) doesn't know where it all went. Marty (Mary Walker), the earth mother, teaches the class in order to find a bit of control in her New Age life.
Baker gives us a play about real people exploring their lives through tiny leaps of faith and creativity. And while those people are played by actors, they behave like real people. What they have to say is awkward and funny, sometimes lovely; sometimes sad. There is beauty in the ordinary. Circle Mirror Transformation is an oddly conventional play in which game-playing is infused with truth-telling. The circle completes, and we thoroughly know the people that don’t exist.