Mirror Circle.

"Deep in the forest, the past is being relived. When a job opportunity with a network marketing company emerges, the recently-let-go Eve is quickly drawn into the fold. But as truth becomes fiction, her memories blend with a story from her childhood, and it isn’t long before the organisation starts to reflect the very cult she lost her mother to decades earlier."

Mirror Circle. was my fifth time directing for the University of York Drama Society, after The Pillowman (2022), The Unspoken (2023), The Last Masquerade (2023), and Archangels (2024). Having spent three years within DramaSoc, being a part of almost thirty shows, and assisting with over sixty others, Mirror Circle. presented the opportunity to pour everything I had learnt into what is ultimately my final time writing and directing with the society. I could not have asked for a better team to join me on this venture, and the final result is, in my opinion, the best show I have put on during my time at the university of York.

I wanted to tap into the theme of generational trauma and cyclical time with the script. The main character, Eve (Lauren Brine) is haunted by a story her mother used to tell her: a short fable titled The Tracker & The Doe. Whilst a simple tale, its events bare a striking resemblance to the life of Eve's mother, and, as the play develops, they soon begin to reflect Eve's own story as well. In this way, it is clear from the get-go that Eve and her partner, Blake (Kira Thomasson), are destined to follow in her parents' footsteps, a fact further propagated as Eve gets sucked into the cultish world of the Mirror Circle company and its mouthpiece, Zephyr (Mariam Nachif). The play deliberately messes with its own concept throughout the 80-minute runtime, that of telling a story, with Eve's parents manifesting themselves as the aforementioned fable's characters, with The Tracker (Ed Wells) and The Doe (Shannon Timms) having alternating appearances on-stage, and never quite finding each other. This idea of twisting the narrative is furthered by Zephyr. As an embodiment of The Red Eyed Crow, the main antagonist of the fable, they, disliking The Tracker & The Doe's open ending, fashion their own take on the story - one in which the villainous crows are instead the Doe's saviours, and furthering the narrative into a more concrete finale.

As a more abstract story, Mirror Circle. called for an abstract design. As a full departure from my usual rigid, scene-based plays, the script is instead split into four chapters (acts). Time spent in any one location is intentionally kept short, and 'scenes' do not have hard-defined edges, instead flowing straight into one another. To achieve this, the entire play is set at a junk pile in a forest. This junk pile, made up of Eve's discarded memories, contains all of the set and props needed for the show. The aim was to create a fluid style of storytelling, one that blends Eve's memories seamlessly in with the more liminal forest sections with The Tracker, The Doe, and The Crows. To this effect, Eve is always within the forest, with locations and events projected onto that setting through the show's technical design.

Leaning into the Punchdrunk methodology for building immersive spaces, Annie Davison and Nell Hemmingfield's incredibly detailed set, partnered with the dark and brooding atmosphere created by Jack Walker and James Gabb's technical design, brought immense life to this liminal and expressionistic world. When partnered with the wonderful costumes brought by Alice Barnett, Alex Cottrell's haunting videography, and stunning performances from an incredible company of actors, Mirror Circle.'s unusual story and structure was given life in an incredibly convincing, heartfelt, and touching way.

I am not usually one to be proud of my work, as I usually end up striving for endless self-improvement. But Mirror Circle. achieved everything that I wanted it to, and more. I am immensely proud of everyone that helped to make this show happen, who committed so whole-heartedly to the vision and to making the production what it was. It is nice knowing my last DramaSoc original was such a high note in my creative career.

At the DramaSoc Spring 2025 awards, Mirror Circle. won awards for its visuals, audio, and character portrayals, becoming the first show to win all three design awards.