July 7, 1993

Anna Deavere Smith Discusses "Twilight."

Actress and Stanford Theater Professor, Anna Deavere Smith. She performs solo, multi-casted pieces, the scripts of which are transcripts of interviews with real participants of events. "Fires in the Mirrors" (aired on PBS) gave voice to the many facets of the Crown Heights riots. Her new show is "Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992", which condenses 170 interviews Smith conducted herself into a two hour show ranging through the lives of 21 Los Angelenos: Darryl Gates, Reginald Denny, Rodney King's aunt, and a Korean shopkeeper (whose lines are spoken in perfect Korean and translated overhead).

22:44

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Anna Deavere Smith

Host

Terry Gross

Other segments from the episode on July 7, 1993

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, July 7, 1993: Interview with Anna Deavere Smith; Interview with Susanna Kaysen; Review of Esther Freud's novel "Peerless Flats."

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July 7, 1993

16:06

Susanna Kaysen Discusses her Time Spent in a Mental Hospital.

Author Susanna Kaysen. At age eighteen, she was hospitalized in Boston's McLean Psychiatric Hospital. Her two years there, from 1967-1969 and experiences of the other young women of her ward are the subject of Kaysen's book, "Girl, Interrupted" (Turtle Bay Books).

Interview

Susanna Kaysen

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July 7, 1993

03:53

Freud's Descendent Writes A Psychological Novel.

Maureen Corrigan reviews "Peerless Flats," the new novel by Esther Freud, great-grand-daughter of Sigmund Freud.

Review

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Transcripts are created on a rush deadline, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of Fresh Air interviews and reviews are the audio recordings of each segment.

Actress and playwright Anna Deveare Smith. She’s best known for her one-woman plays based on hundreds of interviews she did with diverse people who experienced a crisis in their community. They include “Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992” about the Rodney King verdict, and “Fires in the Mirror” about the Crown Heights disturbances. Her most recent show “House Arrest” took her to Washington D.C.to interview politicians and pundits, and it involves a community not in crisis. Deveare Smith has also written a new memoir, “Talk to Me: Listening Between the Lines” (Random House).

Interview

Anna Deavere Smith

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July 29, 1992

22:22

Playwright and Actress Anna Deavere Smith on "Fires in the Mirror"

Smith will discuss her one-woman show, Fires in the Mirror, which is currently playing to sold-out audiences at the Joseph Papp Public Theater in New York. It's about racial and ethnic tensions between African Americans and Hasidic Jews in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

Interview

Anna Deavere Smith

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March 6, 2012

26:43

In 'Shatner's World,' Stories About Acting, Loss, Life

In his new one-man show, William Shatner talks about his childhood growing up in Montreal -- and the ups and downs of creating iconic characters, from starship captain James T. Kirk to lawyer Denny Crane.

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Anna Deavere Smith Discusses "Twilight."

Guest

Host

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Other segments from the episode on July 7, 1993

Susanna Kaysen Discusses her Time Spent in a Mental Hospital.

Freud's Descendent Writes A Psychological Novel.

Transcript

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Actress and Playwright Anna Deveare Smith.

Playwright and Actress Anna Deavere Smith on "Fires in the Mirror"

In 'Shatner's World,' Stories About Acting, Loss, Life

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