Fine acting, direction lift low-stakes comedy

IF you go to the theatre with hopes of seeing an entertaining, uncomplicated play that features great live acting and amiable jokes, then Pangdemonium's feel-good comedy Circle Mirror Transformation should please you. But if you expect theatre to be a higher form of art than, say, good TV comedy, then this may disappoint.

It seems almost sacrilege to dislike anything done by Pangdemonium because it is such a great theatre company. But Annie Baker's 2009 Obie-winning script feels like an episode of Friends or Modern Family: it is funny and entertaining, but it's also glib, pat and narcissistic.

Tightly directed by Tracie Pang, the comedy is set in an acting class conducted by loveable hippie Marty (Neo Swee Lin). The class participants are Marty's good-natured husband James (Daniel Jenkins), lonely divorcé Schultz (Adrian Pang), bubbly actress Theresa (Nikki Muller) and melancholy Goth girl Lauren (Selma Alkaff).