Anna Deavere Smith (!)

When Tuesday night came around, I was honestly at first greatly annoyed that I had to attend this event. My homework was copious and I knew it was going to take me a great deal of time to complete. Even though I eventually got to bed very very late, I am still extremely glad that I went. 

The name "Anna Deavere Smith" always sounded vaguely familiar to me, but I never investigated. Went I flipped over the program for the show and saw her picture, again I felt that she was extremely familiar. I flipped again to her bio, scanned, and then knew exactly where I knew her from. She played Nancy McNally on the television show West Wing. She was a secondary character, but still important. West Wing was and is still my favorite television show, so seeing Ms. Smith in person was extremely exciting for me (and also probably made my enjoyment of her importance basically automatic). 

Her impressions were amazing. I have never heard of most of the people she emulated, but I thoroughly enjoyed all of them. From an anthropological perspective, the act of one person portraying a group of very different people's opinion on the loose topic of "Change in America" was extremely interesting. I felt as though I was witnessing 8 (?) different case studies at once. 

Again, I enjoyed her entire performance, but there were several highlights. Her first person (Studds perhaps?) was extremely entertaining. Stick me in a room with a spunky old person who tends to ramble and I'll be happy for hours. This Studds person seemed just like that and I am sad that I never encountered him. I also enjoyed her Anne Richards. For some reason, I have seen many things that have somehow randomly included her, and I always found her very entertaining. Smith's impression was delightful. My favorite person she emulated was of the Korean woman. I found it extremely interesting to get a non Black or White opinion in what was depicted as an only Black and White racial issue. 

Ms. Smith's performance was thoroughly. I am very glad to have gone and would attend another one of her events in a heartbeat.