Saturday 21 February 2026

Review by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday)

A Mirror is a play within a play within a play; more a Coney Island Hall of Mirrors with reflection upon reflection, so mesmerising that we are never really certain where reality lies. This bold new play from British playwright, Sam Holcroft is a tour de force of brilliant direction (Margaret Thanos) and virtuosic acting.

As we arrive to our seats we find a wedding invitation for each audience member. But there is something else afoot, much, much more it turns out as the play unfolds. I have to preface this with, that in order to enjoy the play to its fullest, (and I highly recommend that you go) it requires no knowledge of all the twists and turns ahead of time. So there will be no spoilers coming from this keyboard.

The wedding is a cover for a performance of an underground (illegal? subversive?) play. Adem (Faisal Hamza) has penned a play and has been summoned to the Minister for Culture, Čelik (Yalin Ozucelik) for a conversation and ultimately a workshop to try and make the script more acceptable to the state. Čelik’s assistant Mei (Rose Riley) is eager to please and get ahead, and like everyone else in this strange authoritarian world, she is trying to avoid being sent to the re-education camps. The other character in this topsy-turvy society is Bax, a nationally acclaimed playwright who is a graduate of Čelik’s mentoring.

While it is often difficult to determine where reality lies, what is abundantly clear throughout the production are the themes being explored. At its heart, the play is about censorship. Who controls the creative voices? What messages are acceptable and which are not? And the ultimate effect of such strict censorship is that we begin to self-censor in order to succeed and thrive, and in many cases to just survive.

This censorship is brilliantly contrasted to the naive reporting of the facts by Adem in his journalistic attempts at creative writing. It immediately causes affront to the powers that be, but ultimately is recognised as the uncomfortable truth that needs to be spoken. But his naiveté thrown up against the slick self-censorship of Bax’s writing is the catalyst of much of the drama, and also the source of some biting humour. Yes we laugh a lot, but immediately we are soon left gasping at the injustices before our eyes.

Holcroft’s script is uncannily relevant to the society we live in today. We are seeing the rise in authoritarianism and more strident attempts to shut down freedoms of expression. One recent local example is the decisions about who is allowed and who is denied appearances at writers’ festivals. The play is 3 years old now, but given recent events in current affairs globally, it rings alarm bells as a frightening prophecy.

A Mirror is a satisfying blend of dark comedy and drama. There are many nods and references to the inner workings of the theatre itself – the rehearsal process, the script readings and the improvisations of the sets to name a few. Those who get the jokes appreciate the sometimes borderline self-indulgences, but those less familiar are possiblyeven more confused. I would guess that the full house at the Belvoir were all in the former category. A nice adaptation from Thanos was the national anthem of this authoritarian state being sung to the tune of Advance Australia Fair. A coincidence or pointed comment?

As for the ending, I never saw that coming in my wildest imaginings. Let me just say this, there were no happy campers.

Season runs at the Belvoir Upstairs until 22 March.

You can listen to a recent interview with Yalin Ozucelik below: