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Date: 8/16/2023
CHESTER — The last play of the summer at Chester Town Hall is “Circle Mirror Transformation,” which will close Aug. 20.
Chester Theatre Company is ending its season, the first under the leadership of co-producers James Barry and Tara Franklin, with a play about small-town theater itself. Written by Pulitzer Prize winner, MacArthur fellow and Amherst native Annie Baker, “Circle Mirror Transformation” tells the story of five people who range in age from their teens to 60s and come together and take an acting class at their small-town New England community center. Through their acting exercises, they get to know each other and themselves over a period of six weeks. It’s a candid window into the lives, hearts and minds of these five individuals and through their collective participation in this acting class how their own lives transform.
“It’s the final production of our 2023 season,” said Barry. “We’re bookending our season with these love letters to theater, the people who make it possible and the audiences that give meaning to our work.”
Corinna May is playing Marty, Alex Draper is playing James, Hero Marguerite is playing Lauren, Joel Ripka is playing Schultz and Tara Franklin is playing Theresa. Franklin is also Barry’s wife and partner in leading the theater troupe.
“We’ve done two other Annie Baker plays in the past,” Barry said. “She has a real knack for tapping into the communication between people that is unsaid. We don’t always say what we mean, as people, and we don’t always do the things we wish we’ve done. As a playwright, Annie Baker hones in these ineffable qualities of communication between people and she understands human dynamics.”
Chester Theatre Company is an award-winning professional theater company known for presenting high quality, contemporary productions with top-notch actors, directors, and designers from across the country since 1990.
Barry has been acting with the award-winning Chester Theatre since 2011 and has appeared in several productions including “Wittenberg,” “The Aliens” and “Title & Deed.”
“I feel so proud to be leading this theatre with my wife, Tara,” Barry said. “Our first season was a thrill and a joy, and we look forward to delighting and inspiring our audiences for many years to come.”
Barry directed the season’s first production, “The Making of a Great Moment,” and will bring it to an Off-Broadway theater in New York City in October, with the same cast that performed in Chester.
In addition, Chester Theatre Company has a fall tour trip planned in Dublin, Ireland, in October. Barry and Franklin are already hard at work planning on what they’re going to do for audiences next summer.
“We’ve delivered a very diverse, satisfying and wide-ranging selection of theatrical styles and tones to bring people back that have worked with Chester for years and also introducing new artists and audiences to the Chester Theatre Company family,” said Barry. “It’s been a real highlight of my professional and personal life.”
There will be a matinee performances of “Circle Mirror Transformation” at 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 19, that will require everyone in the audience to be fully masked.
For more information about Chester Theatre productions, including times and ticket sales, visit www.chestertheatre.org. Individual ticket prices are $52.50. Chester and Middlefield residents, members of the military and their families, ConnectorCare enrollees, and those holding EBT/SNAP cards may purchase discounted tickets by calling the box office. Student rush $10 tickets are available day of show. Single tickets and subscriptions are available at the door, online at www.chestertheatre.org, or by calling the box office at 413-354-7771. Box office phone hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Tuesday through Friday. Performances are in the Town Hall theater at 15 Middlefield Rd., Chester.