PORTLAND — Mad Horse Theatre Company closes its 26th season with Annie Baker’s comedy “Circle Mirror Transformation.”

“The play traces the lives of a handful of small-town Vermont residents who gather each week for an acting class taught at the local community center,” a Mad Horse release states. “By the play’s end, we seem to see to the very bottom of these souls, and feel how the artificial intimacy of the acting class has shaped their lives in substantial ways.”

Mad Horse Theatre Company member David Currier directs an ensemble cast of two men and three women consisting of Mad Horse Company members Brent Askari, Maureen Butler and Janice Gardner, and guest artists Olwyn Moxhay and Payne Ratner.

“It’s fascinating putting a play like this together,” Currier said in the release. “The idea of people coming together for six weeks or so to work closely and emotionally together is the experiment of the play. Our company members are familiar with each other, but haven’t necessarily worked together on stage, and our guest artists are so brave coming into this room full of people night after night to explore these feelings on and off the stage.”

The production runs from Thursday through May 20 at Lucid Stage, 29 Baxter Blvd. Show times are Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.; and Sundays at 2 p.m.

Tickets cost $22 for adults or $20 for students and seniors. However, May 3 and May 4 are “pay what you like” previews, and admission to other Thursday performances is on a “pay what you can” basis.

Reservations are recommended.

Call 899-3993 or order tickets online at www.lucidstage.com.