The VerdictWhat Did Critics Think of Fires in the Mirror Off-Broadway?The solo show, starring Michael Benjamin Washington as 25 different characters, opened November 11.
By
Playbill Staff
November 12, 2019
Michael Benjamin Washington in Fires in the MirrorJoan Marcus
Fires in the Mirror, a documentary play written by Anna Deavere Smith in response to the 1991 Crown Heights riots officially returned to Off-Broadway when it opened November 11 at the Signature Theatre.
Originally starring playwright-actor Smith, who first performed the play in 1992, the Signature production is performed by Michael Benjamin Washington (The Boys in the Band) and directed by Saheem Ali.
Following the deaths of a Black American boy and a young Orthodox Jewish scholar in the summer of 1991, underlying racial tensions erupted into civil outbreak in Brooklyn's Crown Heights neighborhood. Smith's Fires in the Mirror is the result of interviews with over 50 members of the Jewish and Black communities.
The creative team for the Signature production, which began October 26, is made up of scenic designer Arnulfo Maldonado, costume designer Dede M. Ayite, lighting designer Alan C. Edwards, sound designer Mikaal Sulaiman, projection designer Hannah Wasileski, and dialect coach Dawn-Elin Fraser. The production stage manager is Alfredo Macias, and casting is by Caparelliotis Casting.
