SOURCE: "P.C.—or Not P.C.," in The New Republic, Vol. 210, No. 18, May 2, 1994, pp. 29-31.

[Brustein is a highly-regarded American drama critic. In the review of Twilight below, he comments on Smith's performance, her characterization, and her depiction of the multicultural issues surrounding the riots.]

The most cogent commentators on our stormy times have unquestionably been not the columnists but the cartoonists, which is another way of noting that representational satire has more capacity than political commentary to relieve the pressures of a fractious age. On stage two inspired performers have recently been offering their own perspectives on the issues that divide us, and while the African American Anna Deavere Smith and the Jewish Jackie Mason seem worlds apart in tone, attitude, focus and ethnicity, they each provide more perspective on the nature of our discords than an army of op-ed pundits.

It is true that Smith...