LIU Revives Play About 1991 Crown Heights Riot
DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — The LIU Brooklyn Performing Arts Department’s production of Fires in the Mirror, a play by Anna Deavere Smith, will run March 27 to 31 at Kumble Theater for the Performing Arts.
Fires in the Mirror chronicles the response to the Crown Heights riot of 1991 when a car from the motorcade of a Jewish religious leader struck and killed Gavin Cato, a young African-American child. Racial tensions exploded between the African-American and Jewish communities, leading to a string of violent incidents and a civil lawsuit, rocking the city.
The play was originally created by Anna Deavere Smith as a one-woman show, in which she portrayed 35 different characters, and through monologues, examined the stress of the time. Some of these characters include Rev. Al Sharpton, George C. Wolfe, Dr. Leonard Jeffries and the father of the injured boy. For the LIU production, nine students and one professional actor, under the direction of Misti B. Wills, will depict the various characters.