Obtain Fires In The Mirror Articulated By Anna Deavere Smith Displayed In Version

thought this book was ok because it has a lot of information and "interviews" about segregation, i thought this book was mostly about the people venting out and speaking about their opinions about this subject and not enough facts, What she said in the preface resonated such a profound truth for me about the rhythm of a character's speech, about letting the character enter you instead of forcing yourself onto a character.
I lived very near this neighborhood recently after the incidents described, I recognized the ethnic tensions, I was very moved by the collection of all the perspectives, I felt for each individual that was represented, Brilliant and profound artistry about challenging subject matter that challenges the reader and viewer,

A fascinating dramatization of real events, and real tensions fromCrown Heights, This is a play, specifically a oneperson show, but it appears on the page as a poem, and while I like that stylistic approach, for some reason I found it distracting.
I kept reading it more as a poem and wanted to see it performed, For that reason, and that reason alone, I felt its impact was dulled, Still, the issues of slavery, the Holocaust, racism, and race relations are all at play here, and that gives it plenty of gravitas, If anything, I want more I want to see this performed, to see it in its full potency, I understand that the play, in which one actress takes on the roles of a dozen or so people Black, Jewish, and otherwise affected by the Crown Heights riots, is an impressive piece of theatrical art.
Just reading the monologues here, however, didn't do much for me, For one, the formatting is bizarre, with frequent line breaks like poetry that really interrupted my sense of a real character speaking, For another, although I really do recognize the author's attempt to create a "Rashamon" style scenario of he saids/she saids, of he perceiveds/she perceiveds, the book still seems to come down far harder on the Jews.
It's understandable, given the author's own identification with the African Americans in Crown Heights, but a book shouldn't claim to be taking all sides when it takes some sides more than others.
Still, the perspectives voiced by the characters within are BELIEVABLE, if not evenhanded, I didn't realize these are the characters from Anna Deavere Smith's show about the awful riots/killings in Crown Heights,, I know I'd be sucked in seeing it live, but reading it was hard to get into, I'm really glad I learned of this incident, I had no idea this happened, Wonderful, wonderful work. I loved the order the sections were put in especially when two conflicting accounts were put together, I have the pleasure of watching this in a theatre class tomorrow, and I'm quite excited, I read this for a theatre class at The University of Minnesota, It was powerful and excitinga female playwright/actress/activist and her work as an entire unit script analysis, scene study, dramaturgy, contemporary issues, comparative literature and cultural studies.
“you can go into some really socalled undeveloped nation, and i dont care how low that persons humanity is whether they never had running water, if theyd never seen a television or anything.
they are in better condition than the black man and woman in america today, ”

actual ./

ms anna deavere smith at it again! really enjoyed the play and was happy i finally got around to reading it after having it for years.
even though i didnt know a lot about the crown heights riots it was still really interesting to learn about it and how this event impacted so many people and also hearing stories from people who were actually there was fascinating.
and my girls ntozake shange and angela davis made appearances!!! honestly verbatim theatre really does hit different and anna is sooo talented like please support her work! Smiths first major work, and short listed for a Pulitzer, you can tell its a work of an artist finding the right form of the idea shes gravitated towards the docudrama, voice and embodiment as identity shaping elements for performer and performed.
Not quite as focused, expansive or affecting as Twilight, but still excellent, I did not find this book interesting because the monologues are too onesided, Through the monologues, most interviewees say that they try to understand people of different races but it is hard because of cultural differences, At the same time, people choose to remain the way they are and not to share themselves with others, For instance, in “Static”, the Lubavitcher woman did not explain why she could not turn off the radio, and this creates misunderstanding for the black boy who helped her.
In addition, it seems like that most of them fail to notice that there are other problems beside the one between Jews and Blacks, Since many are concerned with this issue, it creates discrimination by excluding people of other colors, For example, in “Near Enough to Reach,” Ms, Pogrebin just left others out by saying, “Only Jews listen, only Jews take Blacks seriously”
In regarding about the incident that happened in Crown Heights, there is no monologue that clearly describes what happened because the interviewees always say something that makes the other side looks bad.
No one wants to take responsibility for what happened, so the Jews and the Blacks keep on blaming each other, It is like a soccer game with the ball being kicked around until it gets into the goal, However, the fans, which represent either the Jewish or Black community, will always support the team that they have come for,
Anna Deavere Smith tries to create diversity, but the interviews did not take into account of how other races feel toward the issues being discussed in the monologues.
There are others who have been through the same sufferings as Blacks and Jews did,
Although this was definitely meant to be staged as opposed to read, it's still worth discovering as a reader since subtleties of character are explored and in some cases explained or defended, in relation to the writer's choices as based on the real people who are characters are based off of.
It does start off slowly, Since the beginning of the book examine the context of the play, and the deaths that set off the Crown Hill riots in the earlys, the reader is invested in those events.
The beginning of the play itself, though, after setting out the deaths, takes a step back to discover Jewish and African American life in the area, before moving forward to what the reader was expecting.
The choice makes sense, in terms of power and in terms of the writer's goal, but it does make for something of a slowdown, and I have to admit that I also felt the last pieces of the play were short in comparison.
That said, I have a feeling the introductions have something to do with thatthey built up Smith's project and the play in such a way that I was expecting a lot, whereas I might have been more impressed with the play itself had I not read those introductions.
They are worthwhile, and there's nothing to really be given away a might happen with another work's introduction, but it's worth noting for readers who are heading into this.
Of course, whether or not the play would be so powerful without some of that extra understanding, . . well, it's a catch, I suppose,

Nevertheless, I'm glad to have found my way to the play, and I'd certainly recommend it to readers who are interested in the events/relations at the heart of it, or interested in documentarytype and interviewbased performance pieces.
Derived from interviews with a wide range of  people who experienced or observed New York's  Crown Heights racial riots, Fires In The  Mirror is as distinguished a work of  commentary on current BlackWhite tensions as it is a  work of drama.
This play made me fall in love with Anna Deavere Smith, Fires in the Mirror focuses on the real liferacially charged riots in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, The play explores the pain of prejudice in Jewish and Black American cultures in the format of several monologues given from varied perspective of members of the community.
Not shying away from the intense reality, Deavere asks an important questions regarding historic slavery, prejudice, and genocide,

One of the most powerful one woman shows I have ever read and one that I would insist anyone who has questions about the everyday fear of being a minority should read, as well.
You should watch Smiths onewoman play, runnerup for a Pulitzer

for Drama, on YouTube, Smith interviewed Caribbean and Hasidic residents of Crown Heights, Brooklyn shortly after the tragedy of August, Every speaker is an unreliable narrator, filled with prejudice, rage and conspiracy theory, A car accident involving the Chabad Rebbes entourage kills a young black boy, Gavin Cato, The days of riots that ensue, enflamed by ethnic tensions and rabblerousers, results in the stabbing death of an orthodox Jewish scholar, Smith interviewed the principle characters, bystanders, commentators and community leaders, recording their words and manners then acting them out on stage, Smiths live performance is a miracle of theater the filmed version less so, but still stirring, The transcripts on the page are at best a backup to be reviewed after screening, This edition has an excellent preface by a younger Cornel West and an intro by Smith: “To develop a voice, one must develop an ear.
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