Eccles Center for the Performing Arts: Anna Deavere Smith

There really aren’t that many people who can command a stage all by their lonesome. Those who try regularly play to small theater spaces just to keep things both intimate and easier to engage. Anna Deavere Smith, on the other hand, has such a captivating presence that she has no problem reaching the farthest back row imaginable.

Perhaps most popularly known for her television work on The West Wing or as the hospital administrator on Showtime’s Nurse Jackie, Smith’s talent is her dexterity. Instead of simply impersonating the likes of a former Texas governor, a retired teacher or even a rough bull rider from Idaho, the award-winning actress skillfully embodies their very essence. She does so by wholeheartedly delving into her subjects as if she were a reporter, interviewing people with firsthand experience and probing into their stories to capture what makes each individual unique. In turn, she sculpts those tales into a larger narrative arc to investigate and illuminate some of life’s most challenging profundities. (Jacob Stringer)