Political Solo Performances by Anna Deavere Smith

Abstract

Anna Deavere Smith is an African American playwright, performer and an academician who has created a unique technique in creating her plays. This article examines her journalistic technique of interviewing people and building a performance text out of interviews. Smith uses solo performance as a medium to explore issues of race, identity and gender. Her plays, as in “Fires in the Mirror”, reveal contradictory notions of individuals on such matters in order to show that identity is not singular but is multi-layered and more complex than we think. This article also discusses her method of acting as it is closely related to her ideas on identity and race. Overall, the article demonstrates the ways Anna Deavere Smith challenges the principles of traditional political theatre and how she creates a more fluid, intricate and dynamic way of understanding identity and political performance.

Keywords

• Anna Deavere Smith,American drama,political Theatre,solo performance,verbatim theatre

POLİTİK TİYATRONUN SOLO SESİ: ANNA DEAVERE SMITH

Abstract

Bu çalışma, Afro-Amerikalı oyun yazarı, oyuncu ve akademisyen Anna Deavere Smith’in 1980’lerde oyun yazmak için şekillendirmeye başladığı röportaj tekniğini konu alır.  Smith, belli bir konu hakkında yaptığı röportajları bir araya getirerek, o konuyu tüm boyutlarıyla sahnelemeye çalışır. Özellikle kimlik, toplumsal cinsiyet ve ırk gibi politik meseleler hakkında farklı görüşler ortaya koyarken, insanların kendi çelişkilerini de gözler önüne serer. Bunu nasıl başardığı kısaca “Fires in the Mirror” oyunuyla örneklendirilir. Bu konulara bakış açısı, Smith’in oluşturduğu oyunculuk metoduyla da bağlantılı olduğundan, son olarak oyunculukta benimsediği yönteme değinilir. Tüm bu bilgiler ışığında Smith’in hangi açıdan “geleneksel” politik tiyatronun dışında kaldığı ve kendine özgü ne tür politik performanslar sergilediği ortaya konur.

Keywords

• Anna Deavere Smith,Amerikan tiyatrosu,politik tiyatro,solo performans,röportaj tekniği

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