No big themes, no national concerns… the Gate’s latest production is a breath of fresh air

Circle Mirror Transformation is a light-touch drama that would feel leaden without top-class acting from a cast including Niamh Cusak and Risteárd Cooper

Clockwise from bottom left: Imogen Doel, Hazel Doupe, Marty Rea, Niamh Cusack and Risteárd Cooper star in Annie Baker’s Circle Mirror Transformation. Photo: Ros Kavanagh

Katy Hayes

This Irish premiere of Annie Baker’s 2009 play is a refreshing blast of contemporary American theatre. It is so unlike any Irish play that it startles. It has no big subject matter, big themes, literary flourishes. It has no national concerns. It is simply a series of minor character studies in a low key.

The idea sounds mundane and youth theatre-ish. In a town in Vermont, a drama facilitator conducts a six-week course with four adult students. There is Schultz (Marty Rea), a recently divorced carpenter; Theresa (Imogen Doel), a former actor now studying acupuncture; Lauren (Hazel Doupe), a 16-year-old student determined to get a part in the next school musical; and James (Risteárd Cooper), a teacher who is married to Marty (Niamh Cusack), the drama class leader.