Anna Deavere Smith
Anna Deavere Smith
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Full Name and Common Aliases
Anna Deavere Smith is an American actress, playwright, and professor known for her groundbreaking work in creating plays based on real-life events.
Birth and Death Dates
Born: September 3, 1950
No death date listed, as Anna Deavere Smith is still active in her career.
Nationality and Profession(s)
Nationality: American
Profession: Actress, Playwright, Professor
Anna Deavere Smith's work spans multiple disciplines, making her a versatile artist. She is recognized for her powerful performances on stage and screen, as well as her dedication to creating plays that tackle complex social issues.
Early Life and Background
Anna Deavere Smith was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to parents who instilled in her a love of theater from an early age. Her mother was a teacher, and her father was a lawyer. Growing up, Anna was exposed to the world of theater through school productions and community performances.
After graduating from the University of California, Berkeley, Smith went on to earn an M.F.A. in acting from the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. This rigorous training laid the foundation for her future success as a performer and playwright.
Major Accomplishments
Anna Deavere Smith's breakthrough came with her play _Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992_, which premiered off-Broadway in 1993. The play was based on interviews she conducted with residents of Los Angeles after the Rodney King beating and subsequent riots. This powerful work earned Smith a Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Play.
Her subsequent plays have continued to tackle pressing social issues, including racism, police brutality, and immigration. _Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Idylls_ (1992), _Notes from the Field_ (2016), and _Glyndbourne Festival Opera's Fires in the Mirror_ (2018) are just a few examples of her notable works.
Notable Works or Actions
Some of Smith's most notable works include:
Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 (1993): A play based on interviews with residents of Los Angeles after the Rodney King beating and subsequent riots.
Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Idylls (1992): A play that explores racial tensions between African American and Jewish communities in Brooklyn.
* Notes from the Field (2016): A play based on interviews with students, teachers, and parents in Chicago Public Schools, shedding light on systemic issues affecting education.
Impact and Legacy
Anna Deavere Smith's work has had a profound impact on the theater world. Her commitment to creating plays that tackle complex social issues has inspired a new generation of playwrights and actors. Her innovative approach to documentary-style theater has expanded the possibilities for storytelling on stage.
Through her work, Smith seeks to humanize marginalized communities and challenge societal norms. By amplifying the voices of those often overlooked or silenced, she brings attention to pressing issues that demand our collective action.
Why They Are Widely Quoted or Remembered
Anna Deavere Smith is widely quoted and remembered for her groundbreaking plays, which have been hailed as "theater as activism." Her commitment to using her platform to amplify marginalized voices has made a lasting impact on the world of theater and beyond. As a trailblazer in the industry, Smith continues to inspire artists and audiences alike with her powerful performances and thought-provoking works.
Quotes by Anna Deavere Smith
Anna Deavere Smith's insights on:
I think it's really important to give yourself a very big question that you're working on that you can come home to, even if you, you know, are going to have to go without a cup of coffee or even a meal, that that should nourish you.
You know if we were to look back and how we were in 1955 living in Jim Crow, living in segregation, living in segregated schools, it's hard to believe that it was America, but it really was.
People in power have to be careful about what comes out of their mouth. They have to find exactly the right word that can’t be attacked.
The American idea is as promising, imaginative, and full of the unexpected as the land itself. The land represents freedom – the frontier, the ability to make a new future with your own bare hands.
I call the language of political figures, pundits and administrators ‘the haute couture of language.’
President Obama called for a ‘we’ nation in his Inauguration Address. Art convenes. It is not just inspirational. It is aspirational. It pricks the walls of our compartmentalized minds, opens our hearts and makes us brave. And that’s what we need most in our country today.
People who are sick, or who have been sick, or have come close to death have a lot to say – and they want you to hear it.
I love studying how people are. Not just what they’re saying, but how they are, what they’re doing.
You hang around actors, or dancers, the minute you sneeze, everybody has a remedy, and we’re all on a million different kinds of diets, and different kinds of things that we do for exercise.