Annie Baker Circle Mirror Transformation Analysis

ROCHESTER, NY – “Absorbing, unblinking, and sharply funny,” according to the New York Times, Annie Baker’s Circle Mirror Transformation uncovers the hidden truths, desires, and heart-wrenching regrets of its characters through seemingly innocent acting exercises. The Obie Award winning drama will be presented by the University of Rochester International Theatre Program and will open December 1st at Todd Theatre, located on the River Campus.
Described as a “love letter to the theater” by the play’s guest director, Pirronne Yousefzadeh, Circle Mirror Transformation – featuring four students and an instructor in a windowless studio with wooden floors – strips away the outside world to deliver an intimate portrayal of introspection and self discovery.

Pulitzer Prize recipient, Guggenheim Fellow, and Obie Award winning playwright, Annie Baker, is most acclaimed for depicting the reality of life naturally: with true-to-life dialogue and emotional precision. After graduating from the highly esteemed New York University’s Tisch School of Arts, Baker earned her Masters of Fine Arts in playwriting from Brooklyn College. Earning her the Pulitzer Prize in 2014 for Drama
One of Baker’s first plays to receive the Obie Award, Circle Mirror Transformation occurs over the course of a six week acting class. Beginning as detached and unfamiliar individuals, the characters become a connected group through bonding and performance activities. And though they all come to bare their souls through the same exercises, each character discovers something unique within. As the director explains, each individual confronts “all the lives [he/she has led] within one life.” Reminiscent of The Breakfast Club with five motley characters all coming to reveal their inner truth, Circle Mirror Transformation exploits Hemingway’s iceberg method towards a quintessential dramatic finish: one that is surprising yet