Review at a glance
What a terrifying phrase the “school-to-prison pipeline” is. Only in America, we think, perhaps erroneously. As part of LIFT , Anna Deavere Smith is here to tell us about disproportionate police violence against and unequal outcomes — educational, judicial — for underprivileged minority communities in the US. It’s an impassioned subject but not the strongest piece of theatre.
Her solo show, an astonishing feat of memory, is based on more than 250 interviews with affected people. Changing costume and vocal inflection with each new segment, Deavere Smith “becomes” her interviewees. This approach is distancing: it’s too performative, when we need it to be more interpretative. These frightening fragments from a broken society need to be put in a wider shaping narrative, to be given greater context and maximum impact. As it is, it’s too easy to sit back and wait for each new “character”.
A highlight of Leonard Foglia’s production is when Deavere Smith presents us with Bree Newsome, an activist in Charleston, SC, who took down the Confederate flag after some initial flagpole climbing lessons.
Until June 23