comments

http://garrettstheater.blogspot.com/2013/05/fires-in-mirror.html?showComment=1367703509625#c8474831319401016949

http://shelly2130.blogspot.com/2013/04/fires-in-mirror.html?showComment=1367703899262#c3552439580965868198

Fires in the Mirror

It has been brought to my attention that you wish to produce a version of Fires in the Mirror by Anna Deavere Smith with several scenes removed, as they may not directly pertain to the Crown Heights incident. As there can be an argument made for the implication of this version, I feel that there is a stronger argument against it. Though the scenes that you wish to remove may seem like they serve little purpose, these scenes prove, both independently and in congruency with the rest of the script, that they have value of their own. Taking these scenes individually, they provide the audience with important back ground information, such as in Static. This scene has no direct link to the incident at hand, but it tells the story of the interaction between a Jewish woman and a black boy within this community. This and the other scenes provide us with important context and background to how these groups interacted with each other. It gives us a chance to look at each side’s view of the other and not see blatant hatred, but rather misunderstanding and fear. These scenes are also important in relation to the rest of the script. Smith gradually moves back and forth between varying degrees of heaviness in her scenes. She goes from a scene where Al Sharpton is speaking angrily to one where a woman is talking casually about wigs. Smith uses these scenes to start a pattern of tension and release that then continues into the rest of the play. Removing these scenes would also remove many instances in which Smith’s motif of mirrors is introduced. Though the later scenes do hold most of the meat, those first few provide a lens with us to view the incident and establish principles that are later confirmed.