Performing Narratives Solo Performance with Anna Deavere Smith

During Fall ‘19, 18 artists (including me) were invited to participate in a semester-long workshop with Anna Deavere Smith (ADS). ADS considered by many as a pioneer in theatre. She is one of the earliest practitioners of what is now known as a documentary theatre^[1] , which is a form of ethnotheatre^[2] using transcripts from interviews to create a work of art, in this case, a play. As a research methodology, this most closely aligned with a qualitative form of research known as ethnography. Under the umbrella of ethnography would be the arts-based research approach of documentary theatre. Some of ADS’ plays that use this style include Fires in the Mirror; Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992; and Notes from the Field. In each piece, ADS performs multiple characters in what is known as a solo performance piece. I had been an admirer of ADS’ work for a long time, so getting the opportunity to study with her was an honor. The title of the class was Performing Narratives, which she teaches one semester a year. Given her busy schedule, the course was in session from October to December and would meet for 4 hours every Sunday until the end of the semester.

I can still remember the first class like it was yesterday, waiting for ADS to arrive. Before the first day of class, none of the eighteen students in the class had any communication with her directly, so we were all a little on edge to meet her in person (or at least I was). Suffice to say she has very high standards for her students, and I worked harder in that class than I had in years. The focus of the course was each student preparing what she called our ‘universe’ for a culminating project which would be performed live in front of an invited audience. The universe project was an exploration into the aspects of our existence that have shaped us into the beings we are today. The topics ranged from the personal to the political. The methods we could use to devise our universe could come from interview transcriptions, found media, or an object from our past. Anna’s work has always had a social justice lens, and her work inspired my universe. She often encouraged me to “speak on behalf of,” which I tried to do.

My universe piece was a social critique of the race relationships between black and brown communities and the police. Much of the work I did during this class will merge with the solo performance piece I will perform as part of my final work of art for my doctorate. My universe piece was constructed through found media using television interviews, news articles, photos, and original text. We are living at a time where artists must use their creativity to help move humanity forward.

As additional artifacts, I include footage of my work in ADS’ class:

^[1] Kondo, D. (2000). (Re)Visions of Race: Contemporary Race Theory and the Cultural Politics of Racial Crossover in Documentary Theatre. Theatre Journal, 52(1), 81-107. Retrieved March 27, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/25068742

^[2] Leavy, P. (2019). Handbook of arts-based research. New York ; London: The Guilford Press.