Audience Member, again

The other night I sat in an audience, and reflected on what it meant to be Black in America now. That night I was sitting in an audience full of other college students and family members, tuned into Anna Deavere Smith's Fires in the Mirror. For those that don’t know, it covers the opposing perspectives between the Black community and Jewish community in Brooklyn, New York. The young black boy, killed by a Jewish driver, and the young Jewish student killed by young Black adults. 

Watching the play, you could see how these two different communities disliked each other, but also, curious. The beginning doesn’t really cover the two killings but, how life is like living closely together or, just how life is being them. It’s almost like two different worlds in that one neighborhood. The play uses that with one set. There were some props: benches, table, streetlight memorial where the child had died. And those props were interacted with by every character – Jewish or Black. I believe this to be one of the Director’s decisions (I wish I had a program but, when you’re late you lose out). In the original play, Smith has each character in their natural habitat. By choosing to change the setting, the Director has brought the characters, indirectly, together in the center of the conflict.

 

Another way they’re brought together is that some characters, from both sides, bring items to place down in the memorial. The first killing that sparked the riots, the characters seemed to forget about the loathing and hatred and were consumed by much melancholy. The play is supposed to be intense. But, which set of emotions are supposed to be the dominant? That’s any critics’ decision, and it seemed the Director wanted to play up the sadness. The biggest contribution and change made, I’d have to say, would be the ending. The majority of the characters come on set with lit candles, standing in front of the memorial. Everyone has come together, in mourning. While they seem to be mourning the death, I think that the Director also had in mind the mourning of how their communities could never seem to interact with each other positively. I think that scene was meant to invoke a sort of hope into the audience. Despite all the disparaging that happened within the play, at the end, there can be events, hopefully not as devastating, that can bring enemies together.

Seeing this play was, for me, another glimpse at Black history - a lot of negative emotion in it. Back in Springfield, I probably have heard of Smith. Some of the names mentioned in the play, I know about. If watching the play wasn't a requirement for a seminar, there's actually a good chance I would have gone on my own. I've seen many plays where Black people are tied to social conflicts. This past year, I saw Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison's masterpiece remade into a play that was as captivating as the novel itself. I want to keep up on my history and see the hidden struggles. I'm happy this was the first play I saw as a college student