Henry Miller Memorial Library Commissions New Play! PREMIERES OCTOBER 15, 2025!

“The Smile at the Foot of the Ladder”

is one of the most haunting and personal works of all of Henry Miller’s remarkable writings…and Kangalee Arts is bringing it to the stage!

Switching gears from the past two years of political- drama-ensemble work, Dennis Leroy Kangalee returns to the solitary spotlight as Miller’s tortured clown-poet hero, Auguste, in SMILE: A CLOWN’S ASCENSION, a monodrama co-written by poet, author & director Magus Magnus (Idylls for a Bare Stage) and adapted from Henry Miller’s “The Smile at the Foot of the Ladder.”

This commission to adapt Miller’s exquisite 1948 parable of the artist’s struggle - about a clown who wants to give audiences “eternal joy” - is the first of its kind. Produced by J. Stock Productions, in conjugal with the Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur, this new monolog shall premiere a day before the official commencement of the Henry Miller in the 21st Century Symposium this fall at the Asilomar Chapel. It will run for four days, five performances.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION.

Stay tuned for updates and further details!

Auguste, Henry Miller’s tragic Hero in “SMILE” - imagined by Dani Kriatura 2025 (Note Miller’s original watercolor in the background)