Eis has assembled a well-balanced cast; they manage to communicate both the connection they have as fellow students (and more, in some instances) and the disconnection that arises out of their being very different people. In fact, it's the dichotomy between connection and disconnection that gives this production its power. As the characters engage with each other–and at several points even portray each other by retelling stories from a classmate's life–it's fascinating to see how each character struggles (or succeeds) in being both genuinely themselves and genuinely someone else. Which, I suppose, is the very core of an actor's craft.

It's risky enough for an actor to bare their soul on stage, so I imagine it's even more intimidating to take on the task of portraying an actor learning their craft through exercises in the safe space of a studio or classroom with no audience as witnesses. Improvisation is challenging enough on its own, so making scripted improvisation feel spontaneous must ratchet up the tension even higher. Yet Eis's cast manages to pull it off. Even more impressive is that they do so while simultaneously inhabiting a character. How each cast member goes about the task of imagining how their character would be spontaneous (or hesitant and reserved) during the games that compose a great deal of the action on stage is the source of much of the pleasure of Circle Mirror Transformation.

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Circle Mirror Transformation, now being mounted by the Custom Made Theatre Company, is the third major Bay Area presentation of Pulitzer Prize winner Annie Baker's work in the past few years—following John at A.C.T. and The Flick at Shotgun Players. It is every bit as oblique, intelligent and goosebumpy as those other love 'em or hate 'em shows (Take that as lure or warning). I'm an inamorato, which made the creepy intimacy of this one all the more engrossing.

An ingenious work of meta-theatrical metastasis, the play is set in a mirror-walled studio at a Vermont community center, where instructor Marty, played with saucer-eyed, granola-fed perfection by Emily Keyishian, is teaching a six-week intro-to-acting workshop to four novices, one of whom happens to be her husband (David Boyll, hitting just the right balance of fawning and fed-up). Such classes being what they are —and arts-inclined Vermonters being who they are— the weekly sessions owe as much to therapy as to Thespis.

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“David Boyll plays the egotistical Dr. Irving Baer, whose daytime television show reaches millions of women across America. When a take-down piece of journalism goes viral, Baer goes out-of-control as his and his wife’s careers spiral into oblivion. Boyll nicely handles the changes from self-assured doctor to vengeful victim to a more understanding man with Hilary Hesse excellently navigating the same waters as his wife, Meredith. Joyce Domanico-Huh, as his faithful nurse, Kelly, brings a lovely vulnerability and honesty to the play in contrast to the Baers.”

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“During the show, I noticed our texting suddenly ceased when both of us were immersed in strong scenes, like the one where daytime TV doctor Irving (David Boyll) first confronts journalist River (Leigh Rondon-Davis), who has written an exposé that might destroy his career. Our radio silence reminded me of the way, at a really delicious meal, diners sometimes can no longer talk; they can only eat.”

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“Thank you, Shotgun Players, for presenting the closest thing to the excitement of live theater that we’ve seen in many long months. Screened live, via Zoom, Quack is a stimulating, biting play about a daytime TV doctor whose career careens downward as a result of an exposé. Although the four very talented performers each appear in individual Zoom boxes, Brady Brophy-Hilton’s deft direction makes the interaction among the actors look and feel seamless.”

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“Having spent time in England when Alan Ayckbourn was delighting audiences with his works, I was pleased to learn that Pear Theatre was beginning the New Year with Alan Ayckbourn’s hilarious farce, Taking Steps (directed by Troy Johnson). The word must have gotten out that this is the play to see – it is. On its first Sunday the house was filled with an appreciative audience that really “got it” and enjoyed the opportunity of laughing a lot… the cast was perfect in their roles.”

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