Circle Project's Robinson gets rave reviews for NYC directorial debut

Circle Project co-founder, David Robinson, directed a play entitled "Dirt" in New York City this past August to rave reviews. "Dirt" explores what it is to be "the Other" and the impact of internalized racism, messages strongly connected to the diversity work of The Circle Project itself. 

This review appeared on Aug 18, 2007:

"See this show.

Because it reminds us how rarely, and how inaccurately, we too often see each other and ourselves. On the subway after seeing Dirt, I thought hard about how I was looking at the strangers around me: the generalizations I was making about them; the lack of eye contact. See this show.

'My name is Sad. I'm 30 years old.' We hear this phrase repeatedly throughout this one-man play, in different incarnations. Sometimes he says he's 25 instead, sometimes he follows it with phrases such as 'I'm a piece of shit. I won't contest that.' Sad is a self-degrading illegal immigrant from Iraq, a peddler of roses, a self-confessed liar, a lover of America. He is the product of racism; he knows he is inferior, he knows he doesn't deserve to look an American in the eye, or sit on a park bench, or use a public toilet. Sad's monologue, directed straight at us, jumps back and forth. Through repetition, in spite of the lies, we see greater layers of truth, of who he is, where he came from, and where he now lives. But predominantly we are left with how terribly he views himself in comparison to the beautiful fair-skinned Americans.

See this show. The script, written by Robert Schneider and translated from German by Paul Dvorak, is rich, poetic, and unique. Christopher John Domig is captivating, highly skilled, and utterly heartbreaking as Sad. David Robinson's direction is smart and beautiful, relying heavily on contrasts. The elements come together with skill and precision, creating a true piece of art."

Another reviewer takes us deeper into the social context for the play:

"Behind the rhetoric of the nation’s current illegal immigrant discussion, underneath all the political debates about building fences and amnesty, lies a deeper accusation steeped in fear and anger: You are not one of us. Deemed unworthy by the majority, this growing segment of the American population is dismissed in title as well as stature. They are the illegals — the aliens — and since they have no rights, they aren’t really our problem.

In 'Dirt,' playwright Robert Schneider gives a face and a voice to the legions of illegals currently excluded from the conversation about their future. Taking the form of an animated monologue, Schneider’s thesis has less to do with politics than with something more basic about the nature of human identification and self-worth. And toward that end, the title 'Dirt' is not a mistake. Sad (Christopher Domig) sees himself as an insignificant speck on the glorious American landscape, a piece of dirt when compared to the magnificent light-skinned people who so casually dismiss him as he walks the city selling roses. Sitting in his cramped apartment, where he hides in his only chair and stares into the mirror, he works through the degrading stereotypes of Arabs as if they were facts. He talks of how he is not worthy of being seen by American eyes, not worthy of sitting on the benches in the city’s parks or using the public toilets reserved for the brave, admirable Americans.

He talks of his homeland in the Middle East, at first fondly but then only as a way of acknowledging all the ways he is inferior to Westerners. He talks about his roommate and friend, only casually mentioning the ways his comrade has tried to commit suicide, mocking him for being unaware of how lucky he is to be in this beautiful country without a language, family or heritage to call his own.

Then he gets angry, screams, and chugs more from a bottle of gin. Composing himself, he 'takes it all back.' He really loves this country. He has no right to complain.

Guided by a brilliant performance from Domig, who seamlessly segues from a man in awe of America to a man disgusted by its contempt of the unfamiliar, 'Dirt' — a ’90s hit in Europe and translated poignantly by Paul Dvorak to suit today’s immigration strife in America — turns our own rhetoric against us. Encouraging the audience to rise up against these foreigners, these 'dirty Arabs' mooching off the government and corrupting the children, he stretches our fears to their logical extreme, so we can see them in all their xenophobic glory. Sad’s dirt and he knows it — all he wants is for us to be more honest about the situation."

As we know in our work with Circle Project clients, theatre--and literature and the arts--provide communal experiences in which we together can search for meaning; we are losing touch with that kind of meaning-making in this culture--and in corporate America, which is where we do much of our work--but the arts have the capacity to get us back into these important conversations about our fears and anxieties about change and race, as a nation, as organizations, and as individuals.