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Anna Deavere Smith

@annadeaveresmith

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Actress, Playwright, Professor
Twilight: Los Angeles, Fires in the Mirror, Notes From the Field
@nyutisch @themuseumofmodernart @amnh @aspeninstitute

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Can art create empathy? Scott talks to two guests: First, playwright and actor Anna Deavere Smith. You may know her for roles on THE WEST WING, INVENTING ANNA, BLACK-ISH, AND THE BURROUGHS. She tells Scott about how she developed her documentary theatre technique, plus what it was like adapting her landmark one-woman-play TWILIGHT: LOS ANGELES,1992 for a full cast. Then Scott talks to Riaz Patel an Emmy nominated TV producer and founder of Connect Effect: A 53-minute experience that turns strangers into community. He tells Scott why how we introduce ourselves is key to healing polarization and what can be done to cure the loneliness epidemic.
#documentarytheatre #lonelinessepidemic #connecteffect #yegods #empathy
@annadeaveresmith @riazrpatel by @annadeaveresmith

What a thrill to have Dr. Biden drop by rehearsal for Basil Biggs and meet the cast! We can’t wait for our performances this Friday through Sunday—snag your tickets today at the link in bio!

Basil Biggs brings a personal family history to the public, as Anna Deavere Smith (@annadeaveresmith) traces the life story of her great-great-grandfather, a farmer, veterinarian, and prominent Gettysburg figure. Experience the world premiere of this work, penned by Deavere Smith, as it arrives to the stage of the Wilma Theater on June 26, 27 & 28.

📍The Wilma Theater 📅 June 26-28

#ArtPhilly #WhatNow2026 by @annadeaveresmith

“We have always had resistance. We didn’t just stand by and let these things go down.”

The actor and playwright Anna Deavere Smith reads from her play “This Ghost of Slavery,” which was published in the Atlantic’s special December issue on Reconstruction.

For this original work, Smith blended her contemporary interviews with historical accounts of Maryland in the mid-1860s, tracing the ramifications of slavery through the current criminal-justice system and revealing the power of historical trauma to shape behavior in the present day.

Read the full play at the link in our bio. by @annadeaveresmith

In her play “This Ghost of Slavery,” published in The Atlantic’s December issue, the playwright and actress Anna Deavere Smith used contemporary interviews supplemented with primary-source historical materials to inform characters’ dialogue. Smith spoke with people absorbed into the criminal-justice system, activists, and social-justice workers, many of them associated with the nonprofit organization Chicago CRED, which seeks to help young people ensnared in gangs or the juvenile-justice system. She blended these interviews with 19th-century archives, transcripts, diaries, and historical accounts of Maryland. “I’ve been trying to become America word-for-word for almost four decades,” Smith says.

“This Ghost of Slavery” reveals the power of historical trauma to shape behavior in the present day. Read the full play at the link in our bio. #theatre #BlackHistoryMonth by @annadeaveresmith

Meet the storytellers who are remaking the American theater. Anna Deavere, Lynn Nottage, and Suzan-Lori Parks were named among the Black playwrights, performers, choreographers, and producers who have transformed what we get to see on stage. #CAASpeakers

📸: @harpersbazaarus by @annadeaveresmith

I recently had the honor of working with Getty (@gettymuseum) and Tess Taylor (@tessathon) on a new podcast called Recording Artists: Intimate Addresses, a show exploring the lives of artists through the letters they wrote.

What an exciting experience to voice artistic luminaries such as Frida Kahlo, Marcel Duchamp, and Meret Oppenheim. Much like the work I have done in the theater for over four decades now, I walked in these artists' words by reading letters that each of them wrote — verbatim.

It was a privilege becoming these inspiring individuals, however briefly. And I hope you can take some time to listen to this podcast and discover a new — and intimate — side to these public figures.

Recording Artists is available everywhere you find podcasts. by @annadeaveresmith

With wonderful Sarah Manyika. Yesterday she spoke at Schomberg Festival about her book “Between Starshine and Clay” by @annadeaveresmith

I interviewed Julian Manyika when he was 11. He told me he was a “consequentialist”. He just graduated from MIT. by @annadeaveresmith

I was thrilled to get a chance to broadcast the work of Michela Marino Lerman when the NYT asked me to participate in their Legends & Heirs feature for the T Magazine Culture issue. Gift link to the article in my bio!

@tmagazine
photographer @florahanitijo
stylist @seemanagement by @annadeaveresmith

I am beginning to celebrate Black History Month with this memory: Me and John Lewis, who I interviewed and then portrayed in my play and film LET ME DOWN EASY. by @annadeaveresmith

I’m joining forces with @PlanetWordMuseum along with people and organizations in nearly every country for #GivingTuesday–a global day of giving and unity that will take place on Nov 29, 2022. Please consider giving to this vital organization: www.planetwordmuseum.org/donate by @annadeaveresmith

I'll be chatting with
@brothercornelwest after the Nov 21 performance of Twilight Los Angeles, 1992, moderated by @broadwayblack. Join us on @signaturetheatre's Facebook or Instagram pages to tune in. by @annadeaveresmith