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Fires was conceived by Anne Deavere Smith but the script is not her words. All dialogue is verbatim from Crown Heights residents and Black and Jewish leaders regarding the identities of this mixed community that burned with rage over a seemingly innocent accident.
It all started in August of 1991 when a station wagon from a police-escorted entourage bearing Lubavitcher Grand Rebbe Menachem Schneerson careened into two Guyanese American children. Seven-year old Gavin Cato was killed and his cousin Angela was injured. The racial tension continued to build as a young black man says the driver was drunk and the Hasidic passengers were whisked away from the scene by a private Jewish ambulance. Three hours later and five blocks away, a visiting 29 year old Hasidic history professor is stabbed and later dies. These are the incidents that sparked the Crown Heights riots.
Smith originally performed the 26 monologues herself. In the Arizona Theatre Company presentation, the characters are cut down to 21 and portrayed by three black actresses. Noted black leaders from the Reverend Al Sharpton and Louis Farrakhan, as well as Carmel Cato (father of Gavin), and many Jewish leaders speak freely and with no consequence. An LCD above the stage announced, with K-Mart Special panache, which person was speaking.
The New York cast was impressive. Angela Bullock showed phenomenal range. During the evening, she fluctuated between a 17 year old Jewish boy and an old Rabbi, as well as writers Angela Davis and Ntozake Shange. While costume changes helped the illusion, she was the one who made every transformation believable.
Cheryl Rogers had the challenge of resurrecting Al Sharpton, but was best as the Lubavitcher woman who couldn't turn off her loud, staticy radio for religious reasons. In fact, this piece was the only truly comic moment of the play. While it was memorabilia, I'm not sure of its relevance to the rest of the story.
Laurine Towler began the play as a young black man recounting the crime scene. When she became Letty Cottin Pogrebin, she was fabulous. Towler had the audience spell bound as Pogrebin, reading the account of her mother's cousin's, Isaac, escape from Nazi Germany. As brother to the slain Yankel Rosenbaum, Towler's performance rang true.
As for the structure of the play, it reminded me of For Colored Girls Who Dream of Suicide... by Ntozake Shange. The play is basically monologue after monologue with no interaction between the characters. Fires also reminded me of the Kurosawa film Rashomon , where different characters who all saw the same event recant it differently. The difference here is Fires is really a non-fiction performance art piece that doesn't tell a complete story and that does not leave the viewer with any "right" answers.
I thought the play itself was uneven. For most of the show, Jews and Blacks cast blame on each other. There were portions that were just angry tirades, from both sides of the fence, amplified to the point of pain. It was much more interesting to hear about the "real folks" who were just trying to understand what was going on in their neighborhood. The lecture by Leonard Jeffries and the insights by Angela Davis were very engaging, but I didn't feel entranced the entire time.
The most provocative moment in the play is when two monologues collide. Rev. Canon Dr. Heron Sam is persuading us that the mere numbers of Africans that died during the slave trade proves that slavery is the worst tragedy against humanity, including the Holocaust. Meanwhile, Letty Pogrebin is reading to us about how Isaac was forced to lead his wife and two children into a gas chamber in order to survive. One is trying to force us into believing his truth, while the other is telling us what is true for her.
What both people are looking for is understanding and I believe that is why Smith created this piece. Fires gives each of these piece a voice and no one voice is more important that the other. Everyone is given the chance to be heard. And that is certainly a good starting point if we are all going to live on this planet peacefully. I consider Fires an important experience and I congratulate ATC for sticking their neck out for something that will not be a box office hit, like Blues in the Night.
Fires in the Mirror continues at the Herberger Theatre's Center Stage through February 17, Wednesday-Saturday at 8pm, Sunday matinees and 7pm performances as scheduled. Call 252-TIXS (8497) for ticket prices.
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