Warning: A Mirror is full of twists and reveals. Spoilers in examples are tagged, but several trope names are Self-Fulfilling Spoilers in their own right.
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A Mirror is a 2023 play by British playwright Sam Holcroft.Welcome to the wedding of Leyla and Joel. The service is to be held onstage in Vorbak Memorial Hall, in the nation's capital city.
The wedding is a sham. The unnamed nation is ruled by a totalitarian government. And once the secret police observer decides that the wedding is genuine and leaves, the 'wedding guests' — the audience — will be instead be treated to the performance of an unlicenced, illegal play.
The Bride, Groom, Registrar and Best Man are an underground theatre company, presenting a play about a first-time playwright, Adem, who's summoned to the Ministry of Culture to discuss his new play with the censors...
A Mirror is a Nested Story with No Fourth Wall, acknowledging the audience as part of the story.
- Age Lift: In-universe, Çelik comments on how much younger Hari is when compared to the real Adem, snarkily asking the audience if the age gap between Adem and Mei has changed their perception of the couple.
- The Atoner: Bax, haunted by the compromises he made, is now helping Adem to stage his plays. When Çelik challenges him on this, he directly describes it as a penance.
- Autobiographical Role: One of the final reveals is that the actor playing Mei really is Mei — and the actor playing is the genuine Bax
- Chekhov's Gun: The Registrar (who plays Çelik in the Nested Story play) wears leather gloves in both roles. That's because he's actually Adem, whose hands were mangled beyond repair by the CPO agents who detained him.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Çelik makes a few disparaging comments about the minister's son Hari, and how she can't keep him under control. Hari is actually one of the leads, as he's the Groom who's playing Adem in the Nested Story.
- Faux Affably Evil: Çelik
- The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You:
- Nested Story:
- No Fourth Wall:
