Type – Theatre, British playwright,
If you liked – Death of Stalin; 1984; The Trial; Six Characters in Search of an Author; Brecht
A Mirror: This play is a lie
Sam Holcroft’s A Mirror is an ambitious and intelligent play, a work that invites us to look not only at the characters on stage but at the structure; political, artistic, and moral, that shape what can be said and shown in public. Director Margaret Thanos is unabashed when she says that this play is not an allegory – it is about us, right now, right here in Australia. It’s provocative, loud, punchy and at times downright scary. The laughs are those awkward types when people don’t know if they really should be laughing. This is not a comfortable middle class theatre experience. It’s meant to get us to snap to attention and take notice.
Set within an unnamed authoritarian society where art and theatre are tightly regulated, the play follows a writer trying to create work under a censorship system that is both bureaucratic and deeply psychological at once. Rather than presenting oppression through overt brutality, Holcroft explores its subtler mechanisms: compromise, self-policing, and the gradual erosion of certainty. The brutality, when it does come, seems so familiar, and that’s scary.
The play’s structure keeps us guessing as to what’s really going on. Holcroft layers its framework of a play within a play, within a play – so that meaning shifts as new context emerges, creating a sense that the audience, (like the characters) is continually reassessing what is truthful.
The four actors create a claustrophobic kind of chemistry on stage. Eden Falk as Bax the regime’s star propagandist cuts a flamboyant and careless figure as the one who has just given in to ‘succeed’. Yalin Ozucelik has to do the heavy lifting with the most dialogue and complexity of character and acquits himself well. Faisal Hamza as Adem the writer is suitably perplexed and clueless as to just what the hell is going on. Rose Riley, yet another talented WAAPA grad, has a bold presence on stage and is full of potential as an actor.
Margaret Thanos’ direction is dynamic and free-flowing, and although I can understand the alienation tactic of having actors change clothes and sets on stage, it can be a tad distracting. Angelina Daniel’s set very cleverly converts from a wedding dancefloor to an office, to an interrogation chamber, and the gritty blood-red wall that reveals toward the end is stunning. Deniel Herten’s music and sound provide overly-loud (on purpose) punctuation between scenes, disorienting and disconcerting us as much as Adem is on stage.
There’s a reason why the regime in North Korea added a paintbrush to the Soviet hammer and sickle symbol. This is also the reason why Stalin would imprison poets and writers as much as political dissidents. They understand the power of art, and therefore the regime’s need to control it. A Mirror tackles this issue, providing a heightened awareness of how art is shaped and who gets to shape it.
Is A MIRROR Worth Seeing in SYDNEY?
Those who know Belvoir Theatre may notice that the framed posters of past productions that festoon the stairway have all been wrapped in brown paper with a ‘censored’ stamp. This has a surprising impact on your first impression for this play, which then continues to jolt us out of complacency. It picks up where the real world left us outside the theatre – horrific murders, increasingly oppressive legislation around protests and speech, police brutality and social-media fuelled divisions. Appealing though it may be to try and escape from horrid social and political realities, we need to keep seeing art like this to remind us what is at stake if we let the oppressors win.
Tickets and Practical Info for A Mirror in SYDNEY 🎟️
Written by Sam Holcroft
Directed by Margaret Thanos
Playing at Belvoir Theatre, Surry Hills until 22 March 2026
Tickets: here
