Award-winning actor, author to speak Nov. 11

USC and the South Carolina Theatre Association is presenting a performance/lecture by actor, author, and teacher, Anna Deavere Smith, at 6 p.m. Nov. 11 in the USC School of Law Auditorium. Her presentation, titled "Glimpses of America In Change," will be followed by a brief question-and-answer period and book signing.

Smith's appearance is the keynote address for the SCTA annual convention, being held this year at USC. A limited number of tickets for the event are available for the general public for $10. Call 7-2551 for tickets in advance.

Smith is an actor, teacher, playwright, and the creator of an acclaimed series of one-woman plays based on her interviews with diverse voices from communities in crisis. She has won two Obie Awards, two Tony nominations for her play Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, and a MacArthur Fellowship, the so-called "genius" grant. She was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for her play Fires in the Mirror. She has had roles in the films Philadelphia, An American President, The Human Stain, and Rent, and she has worked in television on The Practice, Presidio Med, and The West Wing.

"I've seen her lectures before," said Jim Hunter, USC Department of Theatre and Dance chair and artistic director. "She is a one-of-kind speaker. She speaks in her own voice and--uncannily--the voices of people she's interviewed. The result is funny and moving and always leaves you with something to think about and talk about."

Smith is the founder and director of the Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue, she teaches at New York University and lives in New York City. Her latest book, available at the book signing, is Letters to a Young Artist, Smith's reflections on the creative process, the artist's life, and the acting profession, presented in brief letters addressed to a fictitious teenager.

The Nov. 11 presentation is sponsored by SCTA and the College of Arts and Sciences with a grant from the USC Arts Institute.

10/06