Hailed by Newsweek as "the most exciting individual in American theater," playwright and performance artist Anna Deavere Smith uses her singular brand of theater to explore issues of race, community and character in America. She was awarded the prestigious MacArthur Foundation "genius" Fellowship for creating "a new form of theater — a blend of theatrical art, social commentary, journalism and intimate reverie."

Smith is perhaps best known as the author and performer of two one-woman plays about racial tensions in American cities — Fires in the Mirror (Obie Award-winner and runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize) and Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 (Obie Award-winner and Tony Award nominee).

Combining the journalistic technique of interviewing subjects from all walks of life with the art of recreating their words in performance, Smith transforms herself onstage into an astonishing number of characters (up to 46 in one show), expressing their own points of view on controversial issues.