Anna Deavere Smith's NOTES FROM THE FIELD An Unforgettable Reminder of Social Injustice

Anna Deavere Smith is an actress, writer, teacher who creates theater that puts a microscopic lens on current social issues to shake us up and shine a light for social justice.  Smith NOTES FROM THE FIELD achieves this by taking news footage and using verbatim dialogue from:  family members of victims, witnesses, social activists, inmates, psychologists, parents and people who have invoked postive change such as Cong John Lewis.  Smith seamlessly morphs into the character whose words she reiterates as that individual. "NOTES" uses multi-media, news reels, photographic images & displays names/titles of the person represented. The simple sliding sets have minimal props.  Composer performer Marcus Shelby's original music for bass adds beautiful, melancholy undertones to Smith's poignant staging of what I consider to be a Pulitz Prize worthy production.  Smith's majestic storytelling of current racial maelstroms doesn't render the play palatable.  On the contrary, you become an affronted party to a lost generation of American youth living in poverty without hope, caught in failing schools which feeds into the prison pipeline. We see  Freddy Gray being dragged into a police van & hear his wails of agony.  A witness tells us what he saw.  He questions why Gray was handcuffed & feet shackeled when he couldn't stand and tossed into a "steel box" to be thrashed around.  "They {the police} just don't care."  What is probably cause?  Just a glance, or a flippant remark can get your arrested or beaten.  "Look away.  Don't give em {police} anything."  Every character was memorable.  I was moved by the mother in Stockton, CA who was doing everything to keep her kids out of trouble; talking to the teachers regularly, following them to their friends home.  I admired the teacher who said when a student acts out, "you need to ask them why," not suspend them but bring them back in.  The female inmate receiving an education & training dogs to help the disabled spoke mournfully of realizing her past poor decisions.  We watch the disturbing footage of the black teen in a bikini being thrust face down on the ground by an officer & the black student yanked upside down in her desk.  We are reminded of these & other painful images.  We cannot forget nor turn away from racial & social injustice.  Smith gives voice to Cong John Lewis.  He recalls the man who beat him during the civil rights protests coming to him with his son seeking  forgiveness.  Cong Lewis forgave him.  Note, the important & inspiring message: there is a space where change can happen, change for social justice, investment in our youth & their education; ultimately change to advance social justice.