By Anna Deavere Smith
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Central MIchigan University Theatre Presents By Anna Deavere Smith Directed by Steve Berglund Live-streamed from Bush Theatre, October 8-11, 2020 Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 Written by Anna Deavere Smith Director .................................................................................................................Steve Berglund Scenic and Lighting Designer .............................................................................. Paul Collins Costume Designer .....................................................................................................Ann Dasen Technical Director .............................................................................................Dan Daugherty Costume Shop Manager ................................................................ Daniel Thieme-Whitlow Stage Manager ...................................................................................................Karinna Taylor* Cast Stanley Sheinbaum, Jay Woong Yahng, Sgt. Charles Duke, Federico Sandoval, Daryl Gates, Reginald Denny, Jin Ho Lee, Bill Bradley ................................Sam Danko* Understudy ............................................................................................................Colin Edwards Ted Briseno, Charles Lloyd, Keith Watson, Paul Parker, Mrs. June Park, Anonymous Man ....................................................................................................................................Trell Isaac Jessye Norman, Elaine Young, Josie Morales, Katie Miller, Chris Oh, Maxine Waters, Elaine Brown, Maria ................................................................................................Grace Krick* Rudy Salas Sr., Joe Viola, Shelby Coffey III, Talent Agent, Mr. Walter Park, Alice Waters, Mrs. Young-Soon Han .............................................................Olivia Randall* Angela King, Gina Rae, Octavio Sandoval, Elaine Young, Judith Tur, Cornel West, Twilight Bey ...........................................................................................................LeVale Walker Thank you for your support! Out of respect for our student performers and your fellow audience members, please turn off all portable electronic devices. Also, remember that food and drinks are not allowed in the theatre. Production Team Props Master .........................................................................................................Logan Denton Sound Designer ........................................................................................................ Dan Draper Light Board Operation/Electrics Crew .......................... Valentina Avila, Mac Hamstra, Andrew Wittbrodt Wardrobe Crew......................................................................... Jazmine Banks, Jamila Little Costume Shop Crew ...................Aleigha Cheng , Abbey Demorow*, Logan Denton, Aubrey Dickens, Emma Hurley, Jenny Kroon, Isabella Silos, Evan Stehlik Production Crew ..............................................Brynn Balogh, Emily Griffin, Avery Kiefer, The students of TAI 177 Poster and Program Cover Artist ............................................................Jonathon Russell Promotion and Virtual House Manager....................................................... Jim Hickerson *Members of the National Honorary Theatre Fraternity - Alpha Psi Omega Special Thanks Jim Bollella Kevin Campbell Sergeant Zack Ferrier, CMU Police George Holliday for permission to use Rodney King Beating Video Avery Kiefer School of Broadcast and Cinematic Arts TWILIGHT: LOS ANGELES, 1992 is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York. ©2020. This Video recording was produced by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service and Anna Deavere Smith. All rights reserved. This performance is authorized for non-commercial use only. By accepting this license, you agree not to authorize or permit the Video to be recorded, copied, distributed, broadcast, telecast or otherwise exploited, in whole or in part, in any media now known or hereafter developed. WARNING: Federal law provides severe civil and criminal penalties for the unauthorized reproduction, distribution or exhibition of copyrighted motion pictures, Audio & Videotapes or Audio & Videodiscs. Criminal copyright infringement is investigated by the FBI and may constitute a felony with a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison and/or a $250,000.00 fine. Publisher’s Acknowledgements This version of Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 was created for a touring production of the play at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Sharon Ott, Artistic Director; Susan Medak, Managing Director. In its original form Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 was originally produced by the Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, Gordon Davidson, Artistic Director/Producer. It premiered on May 23, 1993, and closed on July 18, 1993. It was subsequently produced as a work-in-progress at The McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey. Its original New York production was provided by the Public Theater, George C. Wolfe, Producer. It opened at the Public Theater in March 1994 and was directed by George C. Wolfe. It opened on Broadway at the Cort Theatre on April 17, 1994. The producers were: Benjamin Mordecai, Laura Rafaty, Ric Wanetik, the Public Theater (George C. Wolfe, Producer) and the Mark Taper Forum (Gordon Davidson, Artistic Director), in association with Harriet Newman Leve, Jeanne Rizzo, James D. Stern, Daryl Roth, Jo-Lynne Worley, Ronald A. Pizzuti, The Booking Office, Inc. and Freddy Bienstock. Playwright’s Note This play is based on interviews conducted by Anna Deavere Smith soon after the race riots in Los Angeles of 1992. All words were spoken by real people and are verbatim from those interviews. This is a form of documentary theater. It is a documentary theater piece about the Los Angeles riot of 1992. The riots occurred after a “not guilty verdict” at the end of a trial of four Los Angeles police officers who beat a black motorist, Rodney King, and were captured on videotape. This beating and the trial were national news in the early 1990’s. These characters are all real people who are alive or who have lived. It is not the intention of the play that any character be “sent up.” The task for all actors is to suspend judgement and stereotype at all times. An actor is seen here as a culture worker meant to help society work on its problem with tribalism in a time that it prevails all over the world. If a character is identified as “black,” it is not the author’s intention that a black person play the role. If a character is identified as a “woman,” it is not the author’s intention that a woman necessarily play the role. It is possible to put together a company in which, at times, an actor plays his or her appropriate “type,” but at other times, and most times, they do not. The idea of the play is to suggest that even in a volatile situation, where tribes, countries, cultures, races clash, it is important that some individuals have the ability to walk in the shoes of someone different from them, even an enemy. The theory of the play is that an actor has the ability to walk in another person’s “words,” and therefore in their hearts. Time Line: March - July 1991 1991 March 3: Los Angeles Police officers beat, subdue, and arrest Rodney G. King. George Holliday, a resident of a nearby apartment, captures the beating on videotape and distributes it to CNN and other stations; it is soon seen around the world. March 6: Police Chief Daryl F. Gates calls beating an “aberration.” Community leaders call for Gates’s resignation. March 7: King is released after the district attorney’s office announces there is not enough evidence to file criminal charges. March 15: Four Los Angeles police officers —Sergeant Stacey C. Koon and officers Laurence M. Powell, Timothy E. Wind, and Theodore J. Briseno—are arraigned on felony charges stemming from the King beating. March 16: A store security camera records the fatal shooting of fifteen-year-old Latasha Harlins, an African-American girl, by Korean-American Soon Ja Du in a South Los Angeles liquor store. March 26: The four police officers charged in the King beating plead not guilty. Soon Ja Du is arraigned on one count of murder. March 28: Records show that $11.3 million was paid to victims of police brutality by the city of Los Angeles in 1990 to resolve police abuse cases. April 1: In response to the King Beating, Mayor Tom Bradley appoints a commission, headed by former deputy secretary of state Warren Christopher, to investigate the Los Angeles Police Department. April 4: The Los Angeles Police Commission places Gates on sixty-day leave. April 5: The city council orders the reinstatement of Gates. April 7: Gates takes disciplinary action against the four criminally charged officers. He fires probationary officer Timothy Wind and suspends the other three without pay. May 10: A grand jury decided not to indict any of the nineteen officers who were bystanders at the beating. The police department later disciplines ten of them. July 9: The Christopher Commission report is released; it suggests Gates and the entire Police Commission step down. Time Line: July 1991 - March 1992 July 10: Gates strips Assistant Chief David D. Dotson of his command after he complained openly of the chief’s record in disciplining officers. July 16: The Police Commission orders Gates to reinstate Dotson. July 22: Gates announces he will retire in 1992. July 23: The State Second