Theatre Review: Fires In The Mirror Burns With Painful Truths
Is America racist? Yes. The question is whether we can overcome our darkness if history is a strange bed-fellow. You have white men that praise their lineage back to Plymouth Rock but would rather be hit by a boulder then acknowledge that their ancestors owned slaves or killed natives. You have people that come from their own oppressed communities, some from foreign lands, and cannot understand that hate could still move within them even if they are victim of it by another’s hand. In 1991, Crown Heights was burning because the black community was being gentrified by the neighboring Jewish community, and the changing cultural, religious, and racial demographic of the area led to tensions that became flames when a Rabbi hit a 7 year old black boy with his car.
Written 30 years ago by Anna Deavere Smith, Fires In The Mirror has returned to Signature Theater until December 8, and the result is absolutely magnificent and devastating. With Michael Benjamin Washington giving a tour-de-force performance by molding his spirit to about 25 characters within 100 minutes, Fires In The Mirror is an actor’s dream. It is a testament to how natural, fluid, and impactful you can make your talent so as to embody multiple, human perspectives and moral codes. Some are dislikable, brilliant, thoughtful, ignorant, powerful, needy, and all are a world within their own mind, which is what makes Benjamin- Washington so phenomenal.
FIRES IN THE MIRROR: Michael and Saheem Take a Field Trip to Crown Heights
Benjamin- Washington understands that every life is its own world, which is why it so difficult to unite so many worlds under the veil and virtue of one that is for all. Philosophically Deavere Smith’s writing and Saheem Ali’s direction captures that to sound audience members’ personal worry and fascination. The Crown Heights’ Riots occurred in 1991, and we are in 2019. We have had protests, in this year alone, against the detainment of migrant children, the police shootings against Brandon Webber and Atatiana Jefferson, and a rise in hate crimes that include a record high in anti-Semitic attacks. In essence, the fact that Anna Deavere’s script, Ali’s direction, and Washington’s performance feels like it is happening now is depressing. Absolutely every point, mentality, and this literal tragedy can, easily, be placed in 2019 America, which means we have not grown.
Thirty years later and we are struggling with the same issues that can be traced back to 300 years ago. Hence, a play initially meant to lance discussions when it is was a current event now sounds alarms on the fact that it is a historical drama that still feels current. With a vivid, but simple set by Arnulfo Maldonado, this rendition of Fires In The Mirror is fantastic, thought-provoking, and engulfing in its reflections of America, but its tragedy is that we can still relate. Yes, it is about an event of the past, but it brings warnings for America’s future. To Buy Tickets To Fires In The Mirror, located on The Pershing Square Signature Center 480 West 42nd Street, Click Here.
