CIRCLE MIRROR
TRANSFORMATION
by Annie Baker
directed by Meredith McDonough
Jan. 24–Feb. 12
2017
502.584.1205
actorstheatre.org
PLAY G U I D E
IN THIS PLAY GUIDE
ABOUT THIS PLAY GUIDE
CIRCLE MIRROR
TRANSFORMATION
This play guide is a resource designed to enhance your theatre
experience. Its goal is twofold: to nurture the teaching and learning
of theatre arts and to encourage essential questions that lead to an
enduring understanding of the play’s meaning and relevance. Inside
you will find information about the plot and characters within the
play, as well as articles that contextualize the play and its production
at Actors Theatre of Louisville. Oral discussion and writing prompts
encourage your students to reflect upon their impressions, analyze
key ideas and relate them to their personal experiences and the world
around them. These prompts can easily be adapted to fit most writing
objectives. We encourage you to adapt and extend the material in any
way that best fits the needs of your community of learners. Please feel
free to make copies of this guide, or you may download it from our
website at actorstheatre.org. We hope this material, combined with
our pre-show workshops, will give you the tools to make your time at
Actors Theatre a valuable learning experience.
PLOT SUMMARY AND 3
CHARACTERS
4
SETTING
6
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
7
GLOSSARY
8
START AGAIN
WRITING PORTFOLIO &
11
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
12 BRIDGEWORK
CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION STUDENT
MATINEES AND THIS PLAY GUIDE ADDRESS
SPECIFIC EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES:
COMMON CORE STATE
STANDARDS
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.1
Write arguments to support claims
in an analysis of substantive topics or
texts using valid reasoning and relevant
and sufficient evidence.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.2
Write informative/explanatory texts
to examine and convey complex ideas
and information clearly and accurately
through the effective selection,
organization, and analysis of content.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.3
Write narratives to develop real or
imagined experiences or events using
effective technique, well-chosen details
and well-structured event sequences.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.5
Analyze the structure of texts, including
how specific sentences, paragraphs,
and larger portions of the text (e.g., a
section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate
to each other and the whole.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.6
Assess how point of view or purpose
shapes the content and style of a text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.7
Integrate and evaluate content
presented in diverse media and formats,
including visually and quantitatively, as
well as in words.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.SL.2
Integrate and evaluate information
presented in diverse media and formats,
including visually, quantitatively, and
orally.
NATIONAL CORE ARTS
STANDARDS
TH.Re7.1 Perceive and analyze artistic
work.
TH.Re8.1 Interpret intent and meaning
in artistic work.
TH.Re9.1 Apply criteria to evaluate
artistic work.
TH.Cn10.1 Synthesize and relate
knowledge and personal experiences to
make art.
TH.Cn11.1 Relate artistic ideas
and works with societal, cultural
and historical context to deepen
understanding.
If you have any questions or suggestions regarding our play guides, please
contact Jane B. Jones, Education Director, at 502.584.1265 x3045.
EDUCATION DIRECTOR
Jane B. Jones
EDUCATION MANAGER
Betsy Anne Huggins
EDUCATION ASSOCIATE
Lexy Leuszler
RESIDENT
TEACHING ARTISTS
Liz Fentress
Keith McGill
Talleri McRae
Letitia Usher
EDUCATION/TEACHING
ARTIST APPRENTICES
Elliott Talkington
Victoria Masteller
PLAY GUIDE BY
Maddi Fuller
Victoria Masteller
Elliott Talkington
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Amie Harris
316 West Main Street
Louisville, KY 40202-4218
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Les Waters
MANAGING DIRECTOR
Kevin E. Moore
CIRCLE MIRROR TRANSFORMATION
PLOT SUMMARY
In her creative drama class at the local community center, middle-aged bohemian
Marty coaches an unlikely assortment of small-town Vermonters: a recently
divorced carpenter, a high school junior, a former actress, and Marty’s own husband.
As they tackle Marty’s imaginative, improvisational, and sometimes awkward
theatre games, their real lives gradually infiltrate the classroom—inspiring
transformations both personal and profound. Annie Baker’s enormously popular
comedy is a beautifully crafted, tender portrait of the tiny leaps of faith and
creativity that spark unexpected insight.
CHARACTERS
SCHULTZ – At the age of 48, Schultz finds himself unhappily alone after his recent
divorce from his wife of many years. He works primarily as a carpenter and makes
chairs in his spare time.
JAMES – He is 60 years old and is married to Marty. He has an estranged daughter
from a previous marriage whom he attempts to contact throughout the play.
MARTY – Marty, 55, is the Co-Executive Director of the community center where the
play is set. In addition to teaching drama, she leads classes in other subjects, such as
jewelry and pottery. She is married to James. Marty longs to move to New Mexico.
LAUREN – Sixteen years old, Lauren is the youngest student in Marty’s class.
She is in high school and is figuring out what she wants to do with her life. She is
considering becoming a professional actress, so she is disappointed when she realizes
the acting class is only going to be theatre games and not scene work.
THERESA – At the age of 35, she’s recently moved to Vermont from New York City
after ending a toxic relationship. She is an actress and is also studying acupressure.
3
SETTING
The play is set in a dance studio at a community center in the fictional town of Shirley,
Vermont. The studio is windowless and contains a wall of mirrors and a big blue yoga ball.
The play takes place over six weeks during the summer.
Springfield, Vermont. Springfield is a good example of what the fictitious town of Shirley in Circle Mirror Transformation
would be like, with a medium-sized population of about 10,000 people, a town hall, and many festivals.
Springfield, Vermont.
4
Springfield, Vermont. With its early 1800s architecture and proximity to waterways,
Springfield shares characteristics with the fictional town of Shirley.
In this map of the United States, Vermont is highlighted in red. Part of New England, Vermont is characterized by its
stunning natural landscape of dense mountainous forests. Vermont is known for its maple syrup, hiking trails, and ski slopes.
5
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Annie Baker
ANNIE BAKER grew up in Amherst, Massachusetts. Her full-length plays include John at Signature Theatre, The Flick at
Playwrights Horizons (Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Hull-Warriner Award, Susan Smith Blackburn Price, Obie Award for
Playwriting), Circle Mirror Transformation at Playwrights Horizons (Obie Award for Best New American Play, Drama Desk
nomination for Best New American Play), The Aliens at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater (Obie Award for Best New American
Play), Body Awareness at Atlantic Theater Company (Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations for Best Play/Emerging
Playwright), and an adaptation of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya at Soho Rep (Drama Desk nomination for Best Revival), for which
she also designed the costumes. Her plays have been produced at over 150 theatres throughout the U.S., and have been produced
internationally in over a dozen countries. Other recent honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship, Steinberg Playwright Award,
American Academy of Arts and Letters Award, and the Cullman Fellowship at the New York Public Library. She is a Residency
Five playwright at the Signature Theatre.
6
GLOSSARY
DOMINEERING: Forcing one’s will over another in an aggressive way. In one of the
exercises in the play, Lauren (roleplaying as Theresa) claims that her ex-partner, Mark,
was “domineering” and made her forget who she was.
MANIPULATION: The ability to handle, control, or move your body or the body of
someone else in a skillful manner. Marty “manipulates,” or adjusts, Schultz’s arms into
a new position in order for him to better embody a character physically.
MORALISTIC: Having or showing strong opinions about what one believes is right
and wrong. In the exercise described under domineering, Theresa claims that her expartner, Mark, was “judgmental and moralistic” while also “always lecturing [her].”
TRANSFORM: To adjust a word or action to exemplify change. In an exercise in the
play, everyone mirrors Theresa who repeats the word “WOOP” and does a gesture with
it. Marty instructs Lauren to “transform” the word “WOOP” by giving it another gesture. By doing so, she changes how the word is understood by everyone else.
MEISNER TECHNIQUE: An acting technique developed by renowned actor and
teacher Sanford Meisner. The goal of Meisner technique is to allow actors to be in the
moment while acting, rather than focusing on the result. Actors use improvisation and
rely on their impulses in order to obtain a sense of authenticity in their performances.
One of the scenes in the play shows Schultz and Theresa participating in a Meisner
exercise in which one person says “I want it” while the other responds with “You can’t
have it.” This exercise allows actors to play with the intention behind the words they
are speaking while also promoting active listening between scene partners.
7
START AGAIN
Meet Marty, Schultz, Lauren, Theresa, and James. Lying on the floor
of their community center’s dance studio, they are trying to count to
ten. It isn’t going very well. The rules: at random, someone calls out a
number, starting with one; if multiple people say a number at the same
time, the group has to go back to the beginning. It’s a straightforward
game, often used in acting classes like theirs. However, it’s hard to get in
sync with a bunch of strangers, and it’s almost impossible not to wonder
if there’s actually a point to all the counting. Marty, the ever-patient
teacher, nudges everyone to keep trying—“Start again”—even when her
artsy activities, designed to create unity and encourage self-expression,
go comically awry. But as weeks pass and real-world concerns invade
the goofy oasis of the community center, Marty’s exercises acquire
unexpectedly high stakes. With compassion and wry humor, Circle Mirror
Transformation charts how simple theatre games lead to tectonic shifts
in her students’ lives—and her own.
(Continued on next page)
8
That precision, combined with Baker’s emotional honesty,
led Associate Artistic Director Meredith McDonough to
direct Circle Mirror Transformation this season. “Annie’s
work is incredibly complex,” she explains. “I love that
she takes things that could seem everyday and so deeply
investigates them that they become profound.” The play’s
comic touch was also a draw; the characters are hilariously
awkward as they navigate the forced intimacy of their
acting class. According to McDonough, “They shouldn’t
be in the same room—they shouldn’t be in the same play!”
Moreover, she says, “We laugh at things we recognize, and
you’ll recognize all of these people. You’re going to identify
with bits of all of them.” Indeed, Marty and her students’
hard-won triumphs, fumbled confessions, and fleeting
moments of connection struck a chord with audiences
when Circle Mirror Transformation premiered in 2009. It
soon became one of the most produced plays in the United
States, and it earned Baker the 2010 Obie Award for Best
New American Play, shared with her drama The Aliens.
Playwright Annie Baker.
Photo by Zack DeZon.
To craft the play, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Annie
Baker drew inspiration from several sources, including
her experiences taking art courses as a teenager in
Amherst, Massachusetts. Reflecting on Circle Mirror
Transformation’s origins, she recalled “a motley crew of
fellow students ranging from janitors to housewives to
retirees,” who gathered for improv comedy in the back of
the public library, creative writing in a teacher’s living
room, and “a very emotionally fraught tango class” in a
basement. The four small-town Vermonters in Marty’s
class are a similarly mismatched group. Schultz, 48, is a
newly divorced, socially clumsy carpenter. High school
student Lauren, 16, itches to do some “real acting” instead
of playing around. Theresa, 35, is a former New York actor
who recently moved to Vermont. And James, 60, Marty’s
husband, is an ex-hippie whose daughter won’t speak to
him. As the strict rules of Marty’s games paradoxically
free them to be themselves (for better or worse), Baker
depicts their inner lives with remarkable precision.
Both plays—and most of Baker’s work in general—reflect
her affection for what she’s called the “accidental
poetry” of everyday speech, as well as her interest in
experimenting with silence onstage. In Circle Mirror
Transformation, whether the characters have nothing to
say to each other or too much, words frequently come up
short, and Baker skillfully orchestrates the rises and falls
of their conversations. McDonough compares the play
to a piece of music and says that staying in tune with its
tempo shifts, beats, and rests is a directing challenge she
embraces, especially when it comes to the play’s quieter
moments. “I think silence is an act of bravery, because
it’s much easier in life and onstage to just move through
it and fill it with something else,” she adds. “As a human
being who is uncomfortable with silence, I actually want to
explore that and take a look at what that means.”
Observed with empathy, thoughtfulness, and Baker’s
signature attention to detail, Marty’s class becomes a
world unto itself in Circle Mirror Transformation. “I’m
happy, and honored, to show that strange little world to
an audience,” Baker wrote in 2009, “and to celebrate all
the people who make art together and don’t stop to worry
about whether or not their names will be remembered.”
In doing so, she makes it possible to see with fresh eyes
how ordinary decisions, like the choice to take a six-week
drama class, can inspire new beginnings and leave a
lasting impact on our lives.
—Jessica Reese
9
WELCOME TO SHIRLEY!
Annie Baker’s Circle Mirror Transformation is part of a quartet of plays she set in Shirley, Vermont. The
fictional small town is a blend of several real Vermont towns as well as Amherst, Massachusetts, where Baker
grew up. What inspired her to keep returning to Shirley? “Vermont fascinates me, period,” she explains. “The
remoteness and the self-congratulation and the embracing of diversity and the fear of diversity and the beauty
and the good intentions and the old farmers and the old hippies and the new farmers and the new hippies—I
love all of it.”
In 2009, Baker wrote an encyclopedia entry about Shirley, excerpts of which are below.
•
“Shirley is a town in Windsor County, Vermont. The population was 14,023 in the 2000 census. Shirley
is home to Shirley State College, and it hosts the annual Vermont Gourd Festival.”
•
“Once a fishing place for the Abenaki tribe of the Northeast, Shirley was settled by the English in 1754
and named for Lord Henry Shirley, the man who was eventually responsible for one of the first acts of
biological warfare in North America.”
•
“In 1853, pure spring water was discovered near Shirley’s Plum Brook, and for the next few decades the
town was home to the Shirley Hydropathic Institute and became a curative health resort destination
until 1882. Now the former Hydropathic Institute is home to the Shirley School, a small preparatory
school for dyslexic students.”
•
“Public nudity was legal in Shirley until 2008, and for years the town’s Saturday Morning Farmer’s
Market was a destination point for nudists. But in 2008, by a narrow margin, the town banned nudity ‘on
the main roads or within 300 feet of any school or place of public worship,’ and the face of the Farmer’s
Market (always held in the parking lot of the Unitarian Church) was forever changed.”
•
“In the 1980s and ’90s, Shirley became home to a small community of Cambodian refugees who were
fleeing the Khmer Rouge regime. The community is still thriving, and now all Shirley public school
newsletters are distributed in English and in Khmer.”
10
10
10
WRITING PORTFOLIO
NARRATIVE: CCRA.W.3
INFORMATIVE: CCRA.W.2
In Circle Mirror Transformation, Marty’s students are taking a risk
by trying a new class that pushes them outside of their comfort zone.
Think about a time when you took a chance on a new class, activity,
game, or team. How did it feel to be in this new experience? Were you
scared or excited? In retrospect, what did you learn? Write a onepage personal narrative or monologue about the first day of the new
class or activity. A monologue is a theatrical tool in which a character delivers a long speech to another character in order to express
what they are thinking or a point they need to make.
Write a review of the performance of Circle Mirror
Transformation that you saw at Actors Theatre of Louisville.
What parts of the play (the actors’ performances, the set, props,
costumes, lighting and sound design, etc.) were your favorites and
why? How effective were these elements in telling the story? Back
up your claims with evidence and details from your experience of
watching the performance. Then, make a copy and send it to the
education department at
ARGUMENTATIVE: CCRA.W.1
Annie Baker is a contemporary playwright who is known for
her “slice of life” plays that encapsulate how it feels to live in our
current world. In her style, Annie Baker goes against conventional
philosophies about what makes something dramatic, including her
colloquial use of language. Baker uses a magnifying glass to look at
seemingly low-risk situations, such as taking a community center’s
acting class, in order to highlight their complexity. She is interested
in mining the small, often forgotten moments of our lives for the
drama buried within. Based on your comparisons, what makes
Circle Mirror Transformation dramatic? Write an essay about why
this story should be in play structure, or if it would be better served
as a short story, film, or some other medium.
Actors Theatre of Louisville
c/o Jane B. Jones
316 West Main Street
Louisville, Kentucky 40202
We will share your thoughts with the creative team.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
PRE-SHOW QUESTIONS
POST-SHOW QUESTIONS
1.
Circle Mirror Transformation focuses on characters attending
a community center class. The audience is never shown the
private lives of the characters outside the class. How does the
setting of the play affect the audience’s understanding of the
characters? What might we learn, or miss, by only seeing the
students in a class? How does our public behavior differ from
our private behavior? What do we present to others, and what
do we try to conceal?
1.
2.
The students in Marty’s class are enrolled for different
reasons, not really knowing what the outcome of the class
will be for them. James takes the class because his wife,
Marty, is the teacher. Schultz takes the class because he is
lonely. Lauren takes the class because she wants to become
an actress. By the end of the class, the characters change in
unexpected ways because of their connections with each
other. Do you think we are predestined to meet certain
people who help us change? Or do you think we meet people
completely by coincidence?
Annie Baker purposefully adds short and long pauses in her
plays to create a realistic atmosphere. In fact, Baker writes
in her Author’s Note how much time a “short” or “long”
pause should take. Think about the different moments that
the pauses were taken in Circle Mirror Transformation.
Sometimes they were taken when a character was processing
emotions like heartbreak or anger. Other times the pauses
are taken for a character to think or during moments of
focus. Consider what those moments would be like without
the pauses. What effect would that have versus the effect you
experienced in the play? Would it be different? The same? Do
the pauses change how we perceive the character’s journey?
2.
During one of the first classes, Lauren says, “I signed up
for this class because I thought we were gonna act.” Marty
replies, “We are acting.” Lauren thought acting could only
be done through rehearsing scenes or putting up a play, but
Marty believes acting can also take the form of games. This
is one of many examples in the play in which the characters’
expectations do not align with reality. What other examples
do you see in the play where the characters’ expectations do
not align with reality? How do these moments affect what the
characters choose to do with their lives?
11
BRIDGEWORK
AT YOUR DESK
1.
2.
Many of the games featured in Circle Mirror Transformation
require or create a place of self-reflection for the participants.
Through the games, the audience learns about the characters’
wants, needs, and dreams. In the final class, the students play
a game in which they describe where their classmates end up
in ten years. Using newspaper and magazine clippings, make a
collage of who you will be in ten years. This can include where
you want to live, what kind of job you want to have, how your
personal style will transform, and hopes for travel and family
life. Reflect on your collage: what do your aspirations say about
your life right now? What are the steps you’ll need to take to
achieve your goals?
After you are finished transcribing, did it surprise you how
often people are interrupted or use filler words? Did the
pauses, stumbles or interjections tell you something about
underlying meaning in the conversation? If one person
speaks more, what does that say about their character? Can
you tell, based on how the conversation went, how familiar or
comfortable the people were with each other?
Annie Baker is known for her ability to make dialogue sound
natural by mirroring common speech patterns. One of the ways
she replicates these patterns is by including lots of pauses and
filler words (“um,” “uh,” “er,” “ah,” “like,” “okay”) in her work.
Listen to 20 seconds of either a podcast interview or live radio
broadcast, and try to transcribe it. Emulate Annie Baker’s
rules for describing speech patterns by:
Example text from Circle Mirror Transformation:
Now that you have taken a deeper look at the creation of
natural dialogue by the podcast, text example, and personal
reflection, try creating your own dialogue. Think about the
circumstances of the characters: are they strangers or close
friends? Are they in a new or familiar place?
SCHULTZ. Night terrors.
MARTY. Huh. Yeah. Maybe. I don’t know what it is.
SCHULTZ. It was night terrors.
MARTY. Yeah.
SCHULTZ. Becky went on medication for… she went on some
kind of epilepsy medication. It helped her.
MARTY. Huh.
(Pause.)
MARTY. And it’s a real—
SCHULTZ. It’s a real thing. It’s a real thing. Look it up online.
Writing “pause” for when there are approximately two seconds
of silence.
Writing “long pause” for silences longer than four seconds.
Using ellipses (“…”) for when a thought trails off and an emdash
(—) for when someone interrupts either their own thought or
someone else’s.
We have provided a toolbox using text from Circle Mirror
Transformation for further clarity.
WHEN
TOOLBOX
WHAT
WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE
(pause)
When there is a two-second pause.
Write in the word “pause.”
When there is a four-second or longer
pause.
Write in the words “long pause.”
When a thought trails off.
Write in ellipses.
…
SCHULTZ. Becky went on medication for… she went
on some kind of epilepsy medication. It helped her.
When someone interrupts either their
own thought or someone else’s thought.
Write in an emdash.
—
MARTY. And it’s a real—
SCHULTZ. It’s a real thing. It’s a real thing. Look it
up online.
(long pause)
AWAY FROM YOUR DESK
1.
EXAMPLE
MARTY. Huh.
(Pause.)
MARTY. And it’s a real—
Group Counting, a theatre game featured in Circle Mirror
Transformation, challenges a group to count to ten together. At
the start of the play, the group can barely get past the number
four without having to restart, but by the end of the play, the
group is able to count to ten together easily. In the game, only
one student is allowed to speak at a time. One student begins
the exercise by saying “one,” then another random student says
“two,” and so on. There is no predetermined pattern of who
says what number, and students cannot communicate who will
say the next number with gestures or sounds. If two or more
people shout out a number at the same time, the group must
all start back at “one.” Try this game in your classroom with
groups of no fewer than four students. Work on the game until
each group is able to count to ten without having to restart the
game. How challenging is this game? Are there
tools or techniques that aid in accomplishing the game? Why
do you think Marty used this game in her classroom? What can
students learn from Group Counting?
2.
James and Theresa are partners in the Gibberish Game, in
which they can only say the words “ak mak“ or “goulash.”
Though James is speaking in gibberish in the game, he is able
to communicate that he has feelings for Theresa. Try this
improv game in class; two participants should engage in a
conversation using only the words “ak mak” and “goulash.”
Before the start of the game, the teacher should secretly give
one of the participants a clear objective of what to achieve
during the conversation. When the conversation is over, reflect
on the scene. Were you able to figure out what the characters
were trying to communicate? What did the actors do with their
physicality and voices to accomplish their goals?
12