Fires in the Mirror

On August 19, 1991, in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, a Hasidic man’s car ran a red light, hit another car, and swerved onto the sidewalk killing Gavin Cato, a seven-year-old Black boy, and seriously injuring his cousin Angela. Later that night, in what appeared to have been an act of retaliation, Yankel Rosenbaum, a Hasidic rabbinical student, was stabbed and killed by members of the Black community. The ensuing riots that lasted three days wracked the previously tolerant diverse community of Crown Heights and made national headlines pointing to the ever present fiction in racial and cultural relationships across America. Drawing verbatim from a series of over 50 interviews with residents of Crown Heights as well as politicians, activists, religious leaders, and gang members on both sides, Anna Deavere Smith created a theatrical event to tell the story through the eyes of 26 of the incident’s survivors. Their voices speak to every American regardless of race, color, or beliefs. Fires in the Mirror is part of a series of solo pieces created and performed by Anna Deavere Smith entitled “On the Road: A Search for American Character” and received the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show in 1993.