美国国家公共电台 NPR Anna Deavere Smith Brings One-Woman Play 'Notes From The Field' To HBO

 

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

If you are a television fan, then you might know Anna Deavere Smith from her roles as the hippie grandmother on "Black-ish," the hospital administrator¹ in "Nurse Jackie" and the national security adviser² on "The West Wing." But she's also an accomplished³ playwright⁴ whose work through the years has consistently taken on complicated social issues like the state of American health care and intense civil conflicts like the LA riots. Her latest project is a one-woman show, "Notes From The Field." It makes the case that inadequate⁵ education funnels⁶ many minority and low-income kids into a criminal justice system which further traps them into a cycle of poverty, a so-called school-to-prison pipeline⁷. But it tells the story in Deavere Smith's own unique way. Drawing from interviews with more than 250 people, Deavere Smith embodies⁸ each person and speaks his or her actual words, including Kevin Moore, the Baltimore man whose video of Freddie Gray being thrown into a police van brought a national spotlight⁹ onto policing practices in Baltimore.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "NOTES FROM THE FIELD")

ANNA DEAVERE SMITH: You put leg shackles¹⁰ on a man that can barely walk to the paddywagon? That don't make sense to me.

MARTIN: And Taos Proctor, a Native American fisherman trying to turn his life around after prison.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "NOTES FROM THE FIELD")

DEAVERE SMITH: You know, the longer you're in there, the more you even lose your feelings about caring. You know, stab somebody. Stab them. Stab them. Stab them.

MARTIN: "Notes From The Field" was recently film for release on HBO, so we thought this would be a good time to talk to Anna Deavere Smith. We reached her via Skype, and we asked her why she wanted to bring "Notes From The Field" to a larger audience.

DEAVERE SMITH: This is the most personal of anything I've ever done because it's about education. And my mother was a teacher in Baltimore. All my father's sisters were teachers. All my mother's friends were teachers. Her sisters were teachers. And so these are people who really pushed forward everything that Brown v. Board of Ed was about, which is, you know, education is an antidote¹¹ to inequality and racism¹² and many of the things that surround people who live in poverty. And when I got a sense of how bad it was for poor kids, then I really felt that it's what I'm supposed to do as a part of my lineage.

MARTIN: You've received a lot of awards for pioneering this kind of interview style of theater, which then - you then embody¹³ the people whom you have interviewed. How do you choose who to focus on? I mean, that just seems like a daunting¹⁴ task.

DEAVERE SMITH: I rely on what made a physical impression on me as I sat in front of someone. Anybody who ends up in the 18 people who I play in "Notes From The Field" is going to be somebody who had a story that would cause the audience to respond with their heart, not just their mind. That type of a story is very moving to most people.

MARTIN: Well, you know, to that end though, we are in a moment where people seem to be very separated from each other. You know, there seems to be a lot of silos. And I just - I'm wondering, first of all, do you think that that's true? Are you feeling like it's harder to get people to receive something that's not already familiar?

DEAVERE SMITH: Well, you know, I think that leads me to something that I've been thinking about, Michel, with regard to Parkland and the young people we've seen come forward there. You know what I'd like to see is a type of leadership that would link those kids to kids who are living in urban areas and having another kind of violence that visits them on a regular basis and that I'd like to see kids across lines, across experiences come together.

MARTIN: Do you have some advice for people listening to our conversation who'd say, you know what, I want to be part of the solution, not the problem, I want to have more civil dialogue?

DEAVERE SMITH: Yeah. Well, I think that if there are young people listening to you and me, Michel, they have to define those boundaries that you alluded¹⁵ to earlier. They really need to walk where they don't belong. My life's work has been to go around America with a tape recorder trying to become America word for word. And I've met a lot of people who I disagree with. I've met a lot of people who you would think I would disagree with. But I have to say it's enriched my sense of being an American to reach out to people who are very, very different from me. It's a lot of fun. So that's the advice that I would give.

MARTIN: That's Anna Deavere Smith. Her latest project, "Notes From The Field," is available on HBO now. She was kind enough to speak to us via Skype. Anna Deavere Smith, thank you so much for speaking with us.

DEAVERE SMITH: Thank you. Thank you very much.

1 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

2 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

3 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

4 playwright   

n.剧作家，编写剧本的人

参考例句：

• Gwyn Thomas was a famous playwright.格温·托马斯是著名的剧作家。
• The playwright was slaughtered by the press.这位剧作家受到新闻界的无情批判。

5 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

6 funnels   

漏斗( funnel的名词复数 )； （轮船，火车等的）烟囱

参考例句：

• Conventional equipment such as mixing funnels, pumps, solids eductors and the like can be employed. 常用的设备，例如混合漏斗、泵、固体引射器等，都可使用。
• A jet of smoke sprang out of the funnels. 喷射的烟雾从烟囱里冒了出来。

7 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

8 embodies   

v.表现( embody的第三人称单数 )；象征；包括；包含

参考例句：

• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This document embodies the concern of the government for the deformity. 这个文件体现了政府对残疾人的关怀。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

10 shackles   

手铐( shackle的名词复数 )； 脚镣； 束缚； 羁绊

参考例句：

• a country struggling to free itself from the shackles of colonialism 为摆脱殖民主义的枷锁而斗争的国家
• The cars of the train are coupled together by shackles. 火车的车厢是用钩链连接起来的。

11 antidote   

n.解毒药，解毒剂

参考例句：

• There is no known antidote for this poison.这种毒药没有解药。
• Chinese physicians used it as an antidote for snake poison.中医师用它来解蛇毒。

12 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

13 embody   

vt.具体表达，使具体化；包含，收录

参考例句：

• The latest locomotives embody many new features. 这些最新的机车具有许多新的特色。
• Hemingway's characters plainly embody his own values and view of life.海明威笔下的角色明确反映出他自己的价值观与人生观。

14 daunting   

adj.使人畏缩的

参考例句：

• They were faced with the daunting task of restoring the house.他们面临着修复房子的艰巨任务。
• Starting a new job can be a daunting prospect.开始一项新工作有时会让人望而却步。

15 alluded   

提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• In your remarks you alluded to a certain sinister design. 在你的谈话中，你提到了某个阴谋。
• She also alluded to her rival's past marital troubles. 她还影射了对手过去的婚姻问题。