Well-known actress enlightens USU audience
“Newsweek” hailed her as “the most exciting individual in American theater” while “The New York Times” called her “the ultimate impressionist.”
And when she entered Kent Concert Hall Thursday for the Arts and Lectures series, Anna Deveare Smith spoke to Utah State University students in a unique way.
Smith, a playwright, actress and professor, flew in from New York to visit USU just long enough to make an impression on what students thought about diversity, or what she likes to call, “safe houses of identity.”
“I worry that we use the word diversity so much that we don’t know what it means,” Smith said. “I’d like to put forth the idea that we all live in safe houses of identity. We like to be with that which is familiar and I’ve always worried about that.”
Smith is known for combining theater, social commentary and journalism by interviewing people from all walks of life, from different parts of the country and then acting them out on stage.
“I travel all around America interviewing all kinds of people,” Smith said. “I try to put myself in their shoes. That’s been my study of America since 1980.”
She puts herself in others’ shoes after talking with them and tape-recording their stories. She then memorizes the recordings, including every “um,” “uh,” or sigh. During her lecture yesterday, she gave spectators a chance to see examples of people she has met throughout the country.
The performances included that of a Jew from Brooklyn, an African-American from L.A. and a Korean who lived through trying times.
From every wave of her arms, every expression on her face, it almost seemed as though the real person was there. Smith was no longer herself, she was magically transformed into someone else from a completely different culture and background.
And although some may recognize her for her work in “The West Wing,” “Dave, “The American President,” “Philadelphia” and many other productions, Smith says her real work has been that of answering the question “What is the relationship of language to identity?” That quest began more than 20 years ago.
“My grandfather told me when I was girl that when you say a word often enough, it becomes you,” Smith said.
Smith continued by telling her audience they should try to escape familiarity even though it may be hard. It may not feel safe, she said, but it’s interesting, and if one is able to escape from a safe house of identity, he or she will bring something back that is lot more enlightening and that person can be more useful.
Smith recognized that there are categories people tend to put themselves in such as race, religion and sexuality. However, she also recognized that people who don’t allow themselves to see outside of those categories are hindered in several ways.
“If we stick in that category, we don’t get the opportunity to make a contribution,” Smith said.
She gave the suggestion that students can explore outside of those categories by moving around and absorbing things quickly. As a Baltimore native, she moved herself around to discover a broader idea of race – one that extended beyond black and white. Thus, she found herself in California interviewing Latinos and people from other cultures.
She came out of her “safe house of identity” and she told listeners they must also.
“You have to in order to sometimes find yourself,” Smith said. “You have to!”
She also left words of advice for students on how to make the most of their time in college.
“I feel that education shouldn’t be about answers, it should be about questions,” Smith said. “You should be using your education to find the question that are going to take you through your life. I have used one question and it and has occupied my work for 30 years … My new question that is going to take me through the rest of my work is what is the gap between understanding and action?”
Now, after years of work, she has written plays “Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Identities” and the Tony-award nominated “Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992.” She was awarded the prestigious “genius” fellowship by the MacArthur Foundation and was the runner-up for the 1993 Pulitzer Prize.
Her more current works include her new book “Talk to Me” and a movie coming out next week entitled “The Human Stain,” in which she plays a supporting role.
Some who attended did not know a lot about Smith but were left a little enlightened.
Jenny Hill, a freshman in music, said she didn’t know a lot about her but left wanting to “set higher standards and live by them.”
Amanda Olsen, a freshman in social work, thought Smith would be interesting because of posters hung around campus.
-mnewbold@cc.usu.edu