Anna Deavere Smith has been credited with inventing a new form of theater a blend of performance, social commentary, and journalism that probes some of society s most controversial issues. My hope is that this broadcast on PBS will reach into communities, schools, the streets, the workplace and homes everywhere. It s time for us to find alternative ways to discover and discuss values in this country.
Race relations are an important part of such a discussion.
For Twilight , Smith interviewed hundreds of people whose lives were directly and indirectly touched by the civic upheaval in Los Angeles. Using only their own words as her script, she portrays dozens of them a Korean grocer, a Hollywood agent, a juror, even NRA activist Charlton Heston and former L.A.P.D. Chief Daryl Gates with candid, uncanny accuracy, recounting the story and its complexities from the many cultural perspectives of its characters. It also includes scenes of Smith s 1999 return to Los Angeles to revisit some of the people she portrays in the play. The film premiered at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival. It was produced on and off Broadway for critically acclaimed runs, directed by George C. Wolfe, and traveled the country in a production directed by Sharon Ott and produced by the Berkeley Repertory Theater.