Home Manchester has announced the cast for a new production of Pulitzer Prize-winner Annie Baker’s masterpiece Circle Mirror Transformation which comes to Manchester in March.

Directed by Bijan Sheibani, Circle Mirror Transformation is having its first major revival since the acclaimed Royal Court production in 2013 and features a five-strong cast.

What is Circle Mirror Transformation about?

In a small town in Vermont, New England, five unlikely strangers come together in their community centre for a creative drama class for adults. The free-spirited​ Marty, recently divorced Schultz, former actress Teresa, the self-conscious high school student Lauren, and Marty’s quiet husband James. Over six weeks of drama exercises and games ranging from the hilarious to the heart-breaking, their lives become entangled and transformed in the most humorous and moving ways.

Who is appearing in Circle Mirror Transformation at Home Manchester?

The cast of Circle Mirror Transformation at Home Manchester comprises actress and writer Amelia Bullmore (Scott & Bailey, Twenty Twelve, The Crucible) as Marty; Sian Clifford (Fleabag, Gloria) as Theresa; Con O’Neill (Frank, Cucumber, Ordinary Lives, Harlots, A View From The Bridge, Happy Valley) as Schultz; Yasmin Paige (Submarine, Pramface, Ah, Wilderness!) as Lauren; and Anthony Ofoegbu (Spooks, Moonfleet, Casualty) as James.

University of Manchester graduate Amelia Bullmore, who plays Marty, is a well-known face on TV, with leading roles in Scott and Bailey (some episodes of
which she also wrote), Happy Valley, and BBC2’s London Olympics satire Twenty Twelve. She also played Alan Partridge’s put-upon girlfriend Sonja in the second series of I’m Alan Partridge. Early in her career, she played Steph Barnes in ITV Granada’s Coronation Street for five years from 1990. On stage, her
many roles include Ruth in The Norman Conquests at London’s Old Vic and on Broadway for director Matthew Warchus.

The role of Theresa is played by Sian Clifford, who starred as Claire in BBC2’s BAFTA-winning comedy show Fleabag.  Her recent stage parts include playing
the title-role in Gloria at the Hampstead Theatre.

Con O’Neill, who appears as Schultz, also has a host of major TV credits to his name, including alongside Amelia Bullmore in Happy Valley. Other leading roles include Channel 4’s Cucumber and drama Ordinary Lies on BBC1, both of which were set in Manchester.  He also played legendary record producer Joe Meek in​ both the stage and film versions of Telstar . His most recent stage appearance in the north-west was as jaded lecturer Frank in Willy Russell’s Educating Rita at the Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse in 2015.

Yasmin Paige, who plays Lauren, starred on the big screen in Richard Ayoade’s Submarine, and is also familiar from playing Beth in BBC’s heart-warming
comedy Pramface, about a young couple about to become parents.

Anthony Ofoegbu, who completes the cast as James, has TV credits in Spooks, Moonfleet, and Casualty, and also appeared in Death and the King’s Horseman at the National Theatre for Rufus Norris, and in Athol Fugard’s My Children! My Africa! at the Trafalgar Studios in London. He spent a lot of 2017 in three Royal Shakespeare Company productions – Antony And Cleopatra directed by Iqbal Khan, Julius Caesar directed by Angus Jackson, and Titus Andronicus directed by Blanche McIntyre.

When is Circle Mirror Transformation performed at Home Manchester?

Circle Mirror Transformation comes to Home Manchester, running from 2 March until 17 March 2018.