SmartTalk Connected Conversations To Present Anna Deavere Smith May 24

Anna Deavere Smith, known for her brilliant solo performance pieces (including Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Identities) and her work on television and film, will appear at New Brunswick's State Theatre on Tuesday, May 24 at 7:30 pm, as part of the SmartTalk Connected Conversations series.

Ms. Smith's program will include theatrical performance elements, as she steps away from the podium, transforming herself into characters she has created and selected for each event. These living portraits of both legendary and everyday people illustrate and illuminate the themes of her topics.

Single tickets starting at $25, are available by calling the State Theatre Ticket Office at (732) 246-7469 or online at www.statetheatrenj.org. The State Theatre is located at 15 Livingston Avenue in New Brunswick, NJ.

Hailed by Newsweek as "the most exciting individual in American theatre," playwright, actor and professor Anna Deavere Smith uses her singular brand of theatre to explore issues of community, character and diversity in America. Her work, which explores the American character and our multifaceted national identity, has been acclaimed by the media and audiences across the country.

Ms. Smith currently plays Gloria Akalitus on Showtime's hit series Nurse Jackie. She is probably most recognized on television as National Security Adviser Nancy McNally on NBC's The West Wing. Her film credits include Rachel Getting Married, Philadelphia and The American President. She is perhaps best known as the author and performer of two one-woman plays about racial tensions in America: Fires in the Mirror (Obie Award winner and runner-up for the Pulitzer) and Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 (Obie winner and Tony Award nominee). Interviewing subjects from all walks of life, Smith recreates their words in performance, transforming herself into an astonishing number of characters. Her most recent play, Let Me Down Easy, which explores the resilience and vulnerability of the human body, opened Off-Broadway in 2009 and is currently touring the country.

Smart Talk Connected Conversations^TM is a subscription-based speaker series providing audiences with inspirational, connected conversations-from renowned entertainers, authors and other accomplished individuals. The charismatic, courageous, well-known female speakers share their widely varied, yet always authentic personal stories and views on timely topics in a way that is intimate, empowering and, above all, connected to the lives of women everywhere. Each Smart Talk event closes with a Question and Answer period during which time the speaker answers audience questions. http://www.smarttalkwomen.com/

Photo Credit: Peter James Zielinski