Fires in the Mirror at Theater J

Fires in the Mirror

Theater J
1529 Sixteenth Street, NW Washington

August 1991: simmering tensions in the racially polarized neighborhood of Crown Heights erupt into riots after a Black child was killed by a car in the Chabad-Lubavitcher Rebbe's motorcade and a white Jewish scholar was slain in retaliation. Anna Deavere Smith's groundbreaking documentary play uses verbatim testimony from individuals throughout the diverse community, creating a nuanced portrait of a shared but divided geography. This theatrical event - performed over 30 years after these life-changing riots - promises a tour-de-force solo performance and a story which touches upon every American regardless of race, color, or beliefs.

Thru - Jul 3, 2022

Price: $35 - $70

Show Type: Drama

Box Office: 202-777-3210

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Fires in the Mirror Reviews

Average Rating based on 5 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Washington Post - Recommended

"...Although there’s something inherently indulgent about these kinds of one-person plays, LaVoy’s commitment plasters over those doubts. Smith never could’ve intended it this way, but this version of “Fires in the Mirror” reflects on the past by showing how little has changed. Whatever the work’s flaws, give LaVoy and Immerwahr credit for recognizing it as an eternal flame worth fueling."

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- Thomas Floyd

DC Theater Arts - Recommended

"...Fires in the Mirror shows members of two groups, each marginalized in its own way, deeply distrustful of and full of hostility for each other, unable to agree on facts or what they mean, not truly listening to one another or recognizing their shared humanity. Such a dynamic is not limited to 1991 Brooklyn, and Fires in the Mirror is far from simply a documentary about a half-forgotten conflict from the past century. In a country far more divided and distrusting than 30 years ago, the play’s resonance is more alive than ever, a mirror of our own time worth seeing and reflecting upon."

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- Bob Ashby

Washington City Paper - Recommended

"...What gives Fires in the Mirror currency today, even as the uprising it investigates has been largely overwritten in our memory by fresher calamities, is that Deavere Smith takes her time to immerse the audience in the milieu of Crown Heights as it was in the late '80s and early '90s. She barely addresses the traffic accident or the violence that followed until the show's second half. One monologue from Los Angeles rapper Monique "Big Mo" Matthews takes aim at misogyny in late-1980s hip-hop. Another captures a Jewish school teacher whose baby accidentally turned on her radio during Shabbat. The woman asks a young Black boy passing by to turn off the radio for her because, as an observant Jew, she can't do it herself during Shabbat. The woman says with a laugh,"He probably thought, 'And people say Jewish people are really smart and they don't know how to turn off their radios.'" These gentle observations of how people are different foreshadow the conflict to come, and that doesn't have an expiration date."

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- Chris Klimek

MD Theatre Guide - Highly Recommended

"...In many ways, “Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and Other Identities” is as much a work of journalism as it is a play. Originally conceived, written, and performed by Anna Deavere Smith in 1992, the show explores the aftermath of the Crown Heights riot in August of the year prior. Days of unrest and violence between the Black community and the Hasidic Jewish community occurred in the ethnically-diverse, Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights after a Jewish man accidentally struck two Black children with his car, killing one and severely injuring the other."

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- Jakob Cansier

BroadwayWorld - Recommended

"...Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Identities is an intense, but fascinating production, with a powerhouse creative team on and off the stage. It's a wonderful production in its own right, and a fitting farewell to Theater J's Artistic Director."

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- Rachael F. Goldberg

Fires in the Mirror at Theater J