A Mirror
- 21 Feb – 15 Mar 26 Upstairs Theatre
A smart new hit play about art versus power
“Undeniably genius: the kind of rare, vigorous writing that sets your head spinning” – The Stage
Adem’s a mechanic who’s written a play, and naively submitted it for consideration. He’s called to the arts council by a bureaucrat, Čelik, who suspects Adem has potential – if only he can learn to write in the state-approved, patriotic way, instead of telling uncomfortable truths.
Together with his new assistant Mei and national playwriting treasure Bax, Čelik takes his new protogé through a crash-course in how to write a celebrated play for the national stage…
Theatre, politics, war, egotism, bureaucracy are all neatly skewered in this comedy. But Adem, Čelik, Mei and Bax are not what they seem. And we, the audience, aren’t either. In fact, in this gem of contemporary playwrighting, nothing is quite what you think it might be.
Clever, hilarious, serious, it’s a mirror. But just what world are we looking at?
We read this contemporary British play one afternoon and straight away knew we had to do it. It’s like Pirandello and Kafka meet Tom Stoppard, it’s carefully put together, it knows what it’s saying, and it’s very entertaining. There’s a sting in the tail, too. It’s wonderful to have Yalin and Rose back, and to introduce director Margaret Thanos to our mainstage. – Eamon
A Mirror was first presented at the Almeida Theatre, London, on the 15th of August 2023 and subsequently transferred to Trafalgar Theatre in January 2024 in a production co-produced by the Almeida Theatre, Second Half Productions, Rodeo Productions/ Tilted, Winkler and Smalberg, Trish Wadley Productions and Sayers and Sayers Productions.
