You might be tempted to write this play off as another tired meta experiment of theater about theater. Don’t. Written by Annie Baker, this Obie Award-winning comedy about four students in a community drama class is poignant, thoughtful and fun. The show begins by giving winks to anyone who has ever been at the mercy of a theater teacher (“James, will you be my bed?”), but before long, the characters have skillfully crept into your thoughts. One is a quiet teenager, one a recent divorcée, but all of them end up learning more than how to act. Acting becomes a kind of personal therapy. When trying to embody someone else, people learn about themselves. They explore new emotions. They face their demons. Circle Mirror Transformation playfully presents this process in a way that allows the audience to indulge in its own self discovery. That’s a big bill for small show, but what’s remarkable is how seamlessly it pulls it off without taking itself too seriously.

Where: Artists Repertory Theatre
Phone: 241-1278
Address: 1515 SW Morrison St.
Website: www.artistsrep.org