Circle-Machine

“Throughout, Heiner Muller (played with febrile intensity by Kevin V. Smith) watches the proceedings from behind a grate, but when he finally speaks again, it’s a blistering excoriation of his own failings and that of his art.”

“But the best moment in the play is a monologue by Smith as Müller. Consumed with self-loathing and despair, he gives an angry account of himself for his actions under the regime.”

“Smith [is] impressive.”

“A journey across a rickety rope bridge is particularly affecting, as is a late, long monologue from Smith’s Muller castigating his lack of courage, as a man as well as an artist, in the face of real danger and oppression. Those two moments stand out as stark contrasts: one intimately human, the other boldly theatrical, and both of them exquisitely realized.”

“Along the way there’s a searing encounter with avant-garde director Heiner Muller (Kevin V. Smith), who offers a long, anguished and gratuitous apology for his collaboration with the Stasi secret police.”