You may not always agree with what is being said but it’s another step closer to understanding the situation and the mindset that engulfed a community where 66 civilians and 168 officers were injured, 163 people were arrested, and 1,500 police officers were dispatched during this time. Fires in the Mirror forces you to be silent while you listen to voices other than your own.
These and other stories told the histories of people and their experiences within the African American and Jewish communities-stories that aren’t always heard over angry voices. Among those numbers were his wife and children. Unbelievably that included marching everyone who shared a train car with him into the gas chambers to their death to prove he wasn’t Jewish. The Jewish man who because of his blonde hair and blue eyes was chosen by his town to do whatever he needed to survive so he could share their story. The legacy of Roots and how the profits went to share more stories about Jewish history and the lawsuits that followed. There were moments of discomfort as when comparing the severity of the Holocaust to chattel slavery here in America. And it was done with grace, care, and respect to those who shared their stories. (In alternate performances, the actor is Khanisha Foster.) But I am glad it was done. The task of expressing so many viewpoints with such passion, such heat must be a complicated and overwhelming project to take on. From her mannerisms and the costuming by Mikka Eubanks, each character took on their own brief life in this storytelling. Horne allowed the words and the lives of the people whose stories she was telling to shine. Can I say this woman had range? The characters she played went from a Jewish woman discussing difficulties with her radio during Shabbat to Al Sharpton sharing a story about his hair and what James Brown meant to him. Even the screen projection designer, Camilla Tassi, added stunning visuals to the story without being a distraction. The immersive quality with sound by Uptown Works and the soothing lighting by Porsche McGovern allowed for your mind to be reflective and open. It was simple but breathtaking: from the separate black and white pools of sand to the rustic wood found in a bench and on various chests along the perimeter of the stage. You could feel the ancestors from around the world gathering in the space. (Baltimore Center Stage pays tribute to the Native Americans that the theater’s land belonged to prior to European colonization.) It was one of the more captivating sets I’ve been privileged to witness. Scenic Designer Diggle did an amazing job mixing two very different concepts – a Native American land tribute and the streets of Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and turning the stage into a thing of beauty.
Khanisha Foster in ‘Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Identities.’ Photo by J Fannon. As directed by Nicole Brewer, the show became a reflection of two marginalized communities trying to survive the biases against them while events boiled over and played out on the world stage. Playwright Anna Deavere Smith offers various perspectives on the events that occurred during that time based on interviews she conducted with the people involved in this tragic real-life event. Fires in the Mirror is an exploration of the Crown Heights riot, a period of civil unrest in the community of Crown Heights in Brooklyn, New York, which resulted after the death of a seven-year-old Black boy who was struck by a vehicle driven by a Jewish man in August 1991.Ĭonsidering the premise and because it was a one-person show, I wasn’t expecting my strong emotional reaction and how I could identify with some of the people in the story.
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