UIndy Theatre is presenting its second performance of the season this month, titled “Circle Mirror Transformation.”
According to UIndy Theatre’s website, “Circle Mirror Transformation” will run from Nov. 14-16 and 21-23 at 7 p.m. There will be a matinee on Thursday, Nov. 21, at 3 p.m. All performances will be held in the Esch Halls Studio Theatre, located in the basement. According to the show’s Eventbrite page, tickets are free for UIndy students, faculty and staff who present their ID at checkout, and they are $10 for the general public. The five-member cast features Rae Cook, Dee Woods, Jae’Veon Fowler, Sloane [Townsend] and Natalie Sayer. Assistant Professor of Theatre Grant Williams is the director of “Circle Mirror Transformation.”
According to a list on UIndy Theatre’s website, “Circle Mirror Transformation” is its second production this season. The season began with “All in the Timing,” a September collaboration with IF Theatre, formerly Indy Fringe. The UIndy Theatre season will continue with “A Cabaret: An Artists’ Showcase” in February 2025 and conclude with “Tick, Tick…Boom!” in April 2025.
According to theatrical licensing company Dramatists Play Service, “Circle Mirror Transformation” was written by playwright Annie Baker. The play takes place in a community acting class in New England and highlights the interactions among the class’s participants.
Williams said “Circle Mirror” is less plot-driven than other UIndy shows. Rather than focusing on a big scene or dance number, “Circle Mirror” is a minimalistic piece about “the connection between people and those things left unspoken.” He also noted its small cast size:of five people.
Townsend, a UIndy junior theatre major with a performance concentration, said of the several plays she has been in at UIndy Theatre, Circle Mirror is one of the more thematically serious productions.
“It’s a very deep and personal story for most of these characters,” Townsend said. “For the past couple of ones, there’s been a sort of whimsy to it,” Townend said, referring to “2 p.m. in Faith, Nebraska” and “The Importance of Being Earnest,” two recent UIndy Theatre productions.
Conversely, Townsend said, “Circle Mirror” is more sincere, with “people meeting people, and how those relationships form and grow.”
Williams said his role as director is multi-faceted. He described his role as three-pronged: administrative, artistic and coaching. As administrator, he ensures various aspects of the production, such as design, props and costumes come together. Meanwhile, he directs the actors movements while also having a vision of the direction he wants the play to go..
Williams said “Circle Mirror” is also different in its seating.
“The distinctive thing we’re doing with this piece is that its arena seating is, what it’s called, theater in the round,” Williams said. He described an arrangement where the audience surrounds the performance space on four sides.
He also described a multimedia element: “We’re installing video cameras and I’m going to actually be filming and streaming the piece from the space that the audience is actually watching the piece in,” Williams said.
Collectively, Williams said he hopes these features give a different perspective to audience members, when compared to past productions.
According to Townsend and Williams, rehearsals are generally two hours long, three days per week with weekend rehearsals. Williams said there is a regular hour-long class period in which rehearsal takes place, which often extends to the next hour depending on cast member availability. Townsend and Williams described the rehearsal process as building over time: It begins with reading lines and blocking and continues with running different scenes. It concludes with run-throughs of the entire production during the final weeks leading up to the performance. Townsend said the rehearsal process for each play is different, mainly depending on how much latitude the actors are given in their stage positioning.
Williams said he is responsible for choosing the plays UIndy Theatre produces. He said he gravitated to “Circle Mirror Transformation” after reading it and said he thought it would be fun to produce. He also mentioned that “Circle Mirror” bends age expectations for college students, with one character being about 60 years old, but he said that one of the emblematic features of college theater is its ability for performers to play characters of many ages.
