| Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Identities | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Anna Deavere Smith |
| Date premiered | May 1, 1992 |
| Place premiered | The Public Theater New York City |
| Original language | English |
| Series | On the Road: A Search for the American Character |
| Setting | Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York City |
Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Identities (1992) is a one-person play by Anna Deavere Smith, an African-American playwright, author, actress, and professor. It explores the Crown Heights riot (which occurred in Crown Heights, Brooklyn in August 1991) and its aftermath through the viewpoints of African-American and Jewish people, mostly based in New York City, who were connected directly and indirectly to the riot.
Fires in the Mirror is composed of monologues taken directly by Smith from transcripts of the interviews she conducted with the people whom she portrays in the play. She interviewed more than 100 individuals in the course of creating this play. It is considered a pioneering example of the genre known as verbatim theatre. It received the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show.