Verdict: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (reviewed Wednesday 25 February 2026).
A Mirror by British playwright Sam Holcroft explores censorship under a totalitarian regime. It can be a very heavy theme to explore. Weaving humour and real-life examples, Holcroft crafts a play that is all-encompassing; jovial, ironic and deeply tragic. At the start we are witnesses to a staged wedding, rolling about with laughter; by the end, we become hostages to a menacing authority figure who warns us ‘not speak or else’.
In interviews, Holcroft reflects on her international experiences that informed her play; in one particular country, she she bore witness to writers tearing huge chunks out their plays before a performance for fear of retribution. It left her shaken, tearful and with privilege guilt that back home her work wasn’t subjected to such scrutiny and comprise.
Here at Belvoir St Theatre, in a safe, unassuming city, we laugh and cry during a performance, feeling satiated, entertained, maybe even a little smugly educated, then go home. It’s hard to fully grasp the reality that in some parts of the world, artistic expression comes at a huge personal cost.
Director Margaret Thanos sees censorship enforcement not just as a news story happening in other countries, but right on our doorstep when local artists and storytellers choose not to fully express themselves, for fear of losing access to opportunities and grants.
A Mirror is an intricate investigation of a play within a play, where regime figures are lampooned for their censorship and control of artistic output. Like Charlie Chaplin’s Great Dictator, lampooned figures are cuddly, fun and benign to begin with; the real figures, however, are not.
As the play develops we see two ambitious playwrights, one emerging, hesitant and naive, writing without affectation about the private lives of his neighbours. The other, more confident and celebrated, limits himself to writing for a mass market, seething that nothing was ‘ever as good as his debut’.
The cast perform with confidence and playful austerity. The text in interpreted with a familiar Australian larrikinism that is endearing to the Belvoir crowd. As the play becomes more layered and catastrophic in its exposition, the laughs peter out. The aftermath is met with a standing ovation, because what we witnessed wasn’t just brave or clever or entertaining, but breathtakingly ambitious, conveying a story about power in a way that only a director like Margaret Thanos can pull off.
A Mirror is playing at Belvoir St Theatre till 15 March 2026. For tickets and showtimes, go to https://belvoir.com.au/productions/a-mirror/
CAST
Eden Falk
Faisal Hamza
Yalin Ozucelik
Rose Riley
CREATIVES
Writer Sam Holcroft
Director Margaret Thanos
Set & Costume Designer Angelina Daniel
Lighting Designer Phoebe Pilcher
Composer and Sound Designer Deniel Herten
Military Consultant Jake Speer
Fight Director Diego Retamales
Intimacy Director Chloë Dallimore
Vocal Coach Felicity Jurd
Stage Manager Jen Jackson
Assistant Stage Manager Estelle Gomersall
IMAGE CREDIT
Brett Boardman