Award-winning actor, author and teacher speaks at USC
Contributed by USC Medial Relations

Anna Deavere Smith

The University of South Carolina with the South Carolina Theatre Association (SCTA) is presenting a performance/lecture by the renowned actor, author, and teacher, Anna Deavere Smith, Saturday November 11, 2006. at 6 pm in the USC Law Auditorium. The presentation, titled "Glimpses of America In Change," will be followed by a brief question and answer period and a book signing.

Smith's appearance is the keynote address for the SCTA annual convention, being held this year at USC. A limited number of tickets for the event are available for the general public for $10; call 777-2551 for tickets in advance.

Anna Deavere Smith is an actor, teacher, playwright, and the creator of an acclaimed series of one-woman plays based on her interviews with diverse voices from communities in crisis. She has won two Obie Awards, two Tony nominations for her play Twilight : Los Angeles, 1992 , and a MacArthur Fellowship, the so-called "genius" grant. She was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for her play Fires in the Mirror . She has had roles in the films Philadelphia , An American President , The Human Stain , and Rent. She has worked in television on The Practice, Presidio Med, and The West Wing.

"I've seen her lectures before," says USC Department of Theatre and Dance Chair and Artistic Director Jim Hunter. "She is a one-of-a-kind speaker. She speaks in her own voice and-uncannily-the voices of people she's interviewed. The result is funny and moving and always leaves you with something to think about and talk about."

Smith's website describes "Glimpses of America In Change" as "an exploration of race, community, and character in America. Smith has been listening to people across the country from all walks of life for the last several years, using Walt Whitman's idea 'to absorb America' as an inspiration. Smith slips in and out of character during the course of her presentation, recreating a diversity of emotions and points of view on controversial issues."

The presentation is sponsored by SCTA and the College of Arts and Sciences with a grant from the USC Arts Institute.

Smith is the founder and director of the Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue, she teaches at New York University and lives in New York City. Her latest book, available at the book signing, is Letters to a Young Artist , Smith's reflections on the creative process, the artist's life and the acting profession, presented in brief letters addressed to a fictitious teenager. The actor Laurence Fishburne says the book "will serve as inspiration to artists of every age."