Derived from interviews with a wide range of people who experienced or observed New York's 1991 Crown Heights racial riots, Fires In The Mirror is as distinguished a work of commentary on black-white tensions as it is a work of drama. In August 1991 simmering tensions in the racially polarized Brooklyn, New York, neighborhood of Crown Heights exploded into riots after a black boy was killed by a car in a rabbi's motorcade and a Jewish student was slain by blacks in retaliation*. F...

An inspiring and no-nonsense guide for aspiring artists of all stripes—from “the most exciting individual in American theater” (Newsweek).In vividly anecdotal letters to the young BZ, Anna Deavere Smith addresses the full spectrum of issues that all artists starting out will face: from questions of confidence, discipline, and self-esteem, to fame, failure, and fear, to staying healthy, presenting yourself effectively, building a diverse social and professi...

"Smith’s powerful style of living journalism uses the collective, cathartic nature of the theater to move us from despair toward hope.” —The Village VoiceAnna Deavere Smith’s extraordinary form of documentary theater shines a light on injustices by portraying the real-life people who have experienced them. "One of her most ambitious and powerful works on how matters of race continue to divide and enslave the nation” (Variety).Smith renders...

Anna Deavere Smith's stunning new work of "documentary theater" in which she uses verbatim the words of people who experienced the Los Angeles riots to expose and explore the devastating human impact of that event.

Anna Deavere Smith, the award-winning playwright and actor, has spent a lifetime listening—really listening—to the people around her. As a child in the segregated Baltimore of the early 1960s, Smith absorbed the words of her parents, teachers, neighbors—even train conductors—and realized that there was something more being communicated than the actual words:The conductor's voice had a mild kind of grandeur that was a cousin to the vocal tones I had heard at funerals—"Ashes-to-ashes...

Pulitzer-nominated playwright Anna Deavere Smith's incisive work on health care in America."A vivid compendium of life experienced at its extremes, drawn about equally from the suffering and the ministering sides of the story.” ―New York TimesCompiled from dozens of interviews conducted by the author, Anna Deavere Smith’s Let Me Down Easy is a bracing, tender, melancholy, and triumphant exploration of death and dying. The ...

From “the most exciting individual in American theater” (Newsweek), here is Anna Deavere Smith’s brass-tacks advice to aspiring artists of all stripes. In the manner of Rilke’s Letters to a Young Poet, Deavere Smith mentors her young artist over a period of five years, sharing her hard won wisdom about the challenges and rewards of the artistic life. Drawing on her own life experiences as an actor, teacher, and playwright, Deavere Smith provides a motivating example for how to pursue one’s...

"Smith’s powerful style of living journalism uses the collective, cathartic nature of the theater to move us from despair toward hope.” —The Village VoiceAnna Deavere Smith’s extraordinary form of documentary theater shines a light on injustices by portraying the real-life people who have experienced them. "One of her most ambitious and powerful works on how matters of race continue to divide and enslave the nation” (Variety).Smith renders...

This diverse anthology features eight contemporary plays founded in testimonies from across the world. Showcasing challenging and provocative works of theatre, the collection also provides a clear insight into the workings of the genre through author interviews, introductions from the companies and performance images which illustrate the process of creating each piece.Bystander 9/11 by Meron Langsner is an impressionistic but wholly authentic response to the catast...

Seven women give voice to the voiceless. Seven is a documentary play created with the support of Vital Voices Global Partnership and is a collaboration between the playwrights and seven female activists from around the globe, telling inspiring stories of overcoming adversity to effect real change and improve the lives of women.Includes panel discussions with Russian activist Marina Pisklakova-Parker, and playwrights Paula Cizmar and Susan Yankowitz. The moderators are RenéJo...

Now in its third edition, Hiking the Big South Fork is packed with up-to-date information on the trails of the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area in Tennessee and Kentucky. The book combines numerous details about the natural history of the area with fascinating tidbits of folklore and legend to provide an interpretive guide to the trails. The authors have walked, measured, and rated every hiking trail, and, for this edition, they include information about trails in the adjo...

An inspiring memoir and self-help guide to greatness by the dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov calls "fearlessness and intelligence combined . . . potent and beautiful."Called "the Evel Knievel of Dance," Elizabeth Streb has been pushing boundaries and testing the potential of the human body since childhood. Can she fly? Can she run up walls? Can she break through glass? How fast can she go?With clarity and humor—and with her internationally-renowned dance troupe S...