Anna Deavere Smith’s ‘Let Me Down Easy’ set for PBS debut

“ANNA DEAVERE SMITH‘s one-woman theatrical performances are so brilliantly drawn, so carefully textured that watching her onstage is always a rich and rewarding experience. Her artistry has been saluted all over the country since the ’90s, when she captured American theater critics and audiences with two noted theatrical events: Twilight Los Angeles, about the LA riots following the trial of Rodney King, and Fires in the Mirror, about the Crown Heights civil disturbances,” PAUL COSTELLO, executive director of communications and public affairs at the School of Medicine, writes in the school’s SCOPE blog. “Now another solo performance by Smith, Let Me Down Easy, has become a national theatrical sensation.”

Written and performed by Smith, a former Stanford drama professor, Let Me Down Easy examines life, death and human resilience through the lens of the current national debate on health care. Medical School Dean PHILIP PIZZO is one of the characters Smith depicts in the play.

A recorded performance of Let Me Down Easy will debut on PBS’s Great Performances Friday, Jan. 13, at 9 p.m.

To read Costello’s complete post, visit the SCOPE blog.