Five good actors do not make a lukewarm story very interesting.

Last Saturday night we went to the San Diego Premiere (pre-opening) of the play Circle Mirror Transformation at the New Village Arts Theatre in Carlsbad. The play is presented in San Diego by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.

Four students participate in a weekly acting class at a community center in Vermont. The teacher is a new-age hippie named Marty (Dana Case). One of the students is her husband James (Tom Stephenson). The three participants are Theresa (Rhianna Basore), Lauren (Sophia Richards) and Schultz (Eddie Yaroch).

There is no acting going on, just “games” reminiscent of the games played by improv troupes, like sitting in a circle, with every person in the group speaking one word, constructing sentences. The class lasts six weeks. Short vignettes, interrupted by complete darkness, comprise each week, each week being roughly one act.

As the actors play their games, the audience learns more about them and their lives.

During the first half, the first three weeks, things moved very slowly and I found myself bored at times. The other spectators around us were also fidgety. After the intermission, a number of them had not come back. The first half lost some of the audience.

The second half was more engaging. I found myself chuckling from time to time, but I never was really absorbed in the story. Since I felt the acting was actually quite good, I blame the play itself.

The producers advertise that through an incredible simplicity, the story of Circle Mirror Transformation captures the subtle changes in each of our lives that lead to complete metamorphosis.

I didn’t make that connection. I enjoyed the play, but not enough that I would state here that this is a must-see production. It was interesting, different, but also very forgettable.

Rating: ** (out of 4)