Sum of parts crafts satisfying theater

Interesting characters, accomplished actors, good direction and an engaging story — those four essential elements make Hawaii Repertory Theatre’s production of playwright Annie Baker’s Obie Award winner, "Circle Mirror Transformation," a welcome option in local theater.

It runs almost two hours without intermission but never drags or loses its momentum.

The story takes place over six weeks in an acting class in the community center of a small New England town. The female teacher, Marty, has a class of four. Schultz, 47, is a recently divorced man who still wears his wedding ring. Theresa, 35, has come to the town after breaking off a toxic relationship in New York City. Lauren is an introverted, tightly wound high school student.

The fourth student is Marty’s husband, James, who is director of the center and often seems to be participating out of a sense of duty rather than enthusiasm.

The story unfolds through team-building exercises and rudimentary acting drills. As Marty and her students play word games and direct one another in acting out scenes from their lives, they inevitably become involved on other levels.

Playwright Baker breaks down each week’s class into a set of short scenes. It isn’t long before each new scene brings with it a sense of anticipation. What is going to happen next?

It is also easy to start thinking about what one’s own answers and responses might be.

Jim Aina (James) and David Starr (Schultz) are masters at conveying myriad emotions without a word spoken. Aina’s command of silent communication is the key to a scene where James, who is theoretically a happily married man, suddenly gets the feeling that Theresa might be interested in him as more than a classmate. The expression on Aina’s face says more than a page or two of dialogue.

Starr has several showcase scenes of his own, but none surpasses the scene where Schultz becomes the first loser in a memory game and is told he has to step out of the circle while the others continue to play. Starr’s expression, his posture and carefully measured movement make it clear that if looks could kill, two of Schultz’s classmates would be dead.

Madeline Ruhl (Lauren) is excellent as the petite introvert whose sad-sack attitude conceals ambition and anger as well as insecurity. Zoe Courneya (Theresa) gives an impressive performance as a woman who isn’t quite sure what she wants now that she’s escaped her boyfriend. Lisa Barnes (Marty) completes the cast with an equally rich and well-rounded portrayal of a teacher who receives some life lessons of her own.

There are moments that don’t seem to advance the story but add substance to it. Others bring individual characters closer to the state of transformation suggested by the title. The sum of all of them makes this HRT production satisfying and thought-provoking theater.