WASHINGTON POST
"an aching nostalgia arrives in the latter half of this 70-minute production ... Hemmingsen’s demeanor becomes eloquently conflicted, seeming to radiate regret, sadness, wonder, empathy and, above all, bafflement at the strange phenomenon that is time. ... The tableau is stirring enough that you wish you could hit the rewind button and start the play again ..."
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DC EXAMINER
"Washington audiences are fortunate to have Brian Hemmingsen .... What a fine job Hemmingsen does in this daunting role which requires the actor imbue his character with just a hint of comedic idiosyncrasies but still maintain his dignity ... the full spectrum of Krapp’s past love, loss, joy, desperation and regret are unveiled and he reacts to them with sorrow, anger, elation and sometimes disbelief ...Krapp’s Last Tape is not a play that presents easy answers – but it does present haunting ones."
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POTOMAC STAGES
" a theatrical experience that is fascinating and engrossing ...  Hemmingsen stays on track all through the play, never deviating from the flow that Beckett established ... [Director] Jackson could not draw a performance of this quality from an actor who didn’t bring the requisite skills and talent into the project in the first place. Someone - Hemmingsen or Jackson (or both) - has an instinct for just how far to push a particular bit, just how long to hold a pause and just how strong an emphasis to put on individual moments. It is the unerring sense for the outer limit that marks this performance ... the demands [of the script] are made much easier to meet when the performance is as intense and captivating as this one. ... a particularly impressive demonstration of the magnetic hold Hemmingsen has on the audience ..."
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WASHINGTON CITY PAPER
"sprightly mounting ... Hemmingsen makes the taping itself pretty antic. In fact, considering that the play is all about stripping away and reducing to essences, he is having one helluva giddy, flashy, high old minimalist time."
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DC THEATRE SCENE
"Krapp’s Last Tape is a hymn to failure and despair, but under the direction of David Bryan Jackson, it’s entertaining and illuminating, not depressing. It’s about identity, loneliness in aging, the loss of loved ones, love, and most painful of all - memory. What we forget, did it ever exist? Hemmingsen, who’s played Hamlet before, brings an inner radiance to a tour-de-force performance that holds us rapt. ... Hemmingsen acts it out with dignity and bravado, with the sweeping gesture of any man taking command of his life. And slowly a mundane apparatus made for the spoken word becomes a brilliant poetic - if not painful - metaphor. ... Hemmingsen’s expressive face and acting lift the words off the page and make the trip to Arlington well worth it."
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PURPLEMOTES.NET
"The Keegan Theatre’s production conveys beautifully both the all-encompassing flow of time and the altered attentional response to distanced viewing ... solo actor Brian Hemmingsen’s expressive, sympathetic, and continually engaging performance of Krapp’s Last Tape.  Everyone who can should see this Krapp...."
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THE EAGLE
"In Keegan's staging, insightful directing and illuminating acting create a spare, but haunting performance ... theater veteran Brian Hemmingsen makes a play with almost no props or dialogue incredibly compelling ... his expressions and mannerisms bring to life the slightest nuances of emotion ... director David Bryan Jackson gave each production detail near-poetic consideration. ... a gem of a production."
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