It is an honor to welcome Anna Deavere Smith back to the American Repertory Theater. Anna first performed Twilight nearly 30 years ago in Los Angeles, in the wake of the unrest that erupted following the police officers’ acquittal in Rodney King’s police brutality case. She has now revised her landmark solo play for an ensemble cast of performers. In revisiting this work, she asks us to consider what has happened, and what has not, since the summer of 1992.

For over three decades, Anna’s work has been a driving force in the life of the A.R.T., and in the broader life of Harvard University. Anna made her A.R.T. debut in 1992 with her solo work Fires in the Mirror, followed by Let Me Down Easy (2008) and Notes from the Field: Doing Time in Education (2016). From 1998 to 2000, Anna also convened the Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue, co-hosted by A.R.T. and the W.E.B. Du Bois Research Institute, and her plays continue to be studied and discussed throughout the university.

When I reflect on Anna’s work, the quality that comes to mind is presence. She immerses herself in the communities she portrays, weaving many voices together to create collective portraits of neighborhoods and nations. Anna also calls for a special kind of presence from her audiences. All her pieces ask us to be more than spectators of crisis—she asks each of us where we stand in relationship to the events represented onstage, often catalyzing necessary dialogue in the process.

This ensemble production of Twilight, which debuted at Signature Theatre in New York City in 2021, represents an exciting next step in Anna’s ongoing artistic evolution. It has been a revelation to see how these new voices reinforce the resonance and urgency of this seminal work. It is my immense pleasure to welcome this cast and creative team, led by director Taibi Magar (We Live in Cairo, Macbeth In Stride), to Cambridge.

Thank you for being present with us.

Diane Paulus
Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director

American Repertory Theater
in association with Signature Theatre
presents

Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992

by Anna Deavere Smith

Engagement support of Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 is provided by The Crimson Lion / Lavine Family Foundation.

Production support of Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 is provided by Katie and Paul Buttenwieser.

Additional Education and Engagement support of Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 is provided by Abrams Foundation.

Media Support of Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 is provided by WBUR.

Season support is provided by Harvard University, The Barr Foundation, The Bob and Alison Murchison New Work Development Fund, The Shubert Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Bank of America, Barton & Guestier, Meyer Sound, and JetBlue.

This production of Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 was first produced at the Signature Theatre on October 12, 2021
Page Evans, Artistic Director  Harold Wolpert, Executive Director

A 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.  

Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 is supported, in part, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.

Runtime: Two and one half hours, including one 15-minute intermission.

This production contains footage of extreme racialized violence and instances of racialized and discriminatory language.

Special Thanks

Jackie SJ Kim
Ju Yon Kim, Timothy Patrick McCarthy, Tracy K. Smith
Melissa D’Anello, Tova Wang

Footage featured in Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 courtesy of:

ABC7 Los Angeles
Los Angeles City Archives – Office of the City Clerk
The CONUS Archive
Rodney King Beating Video ©1991 by George Holliday, U.S. Copyright Registration No. PA0000518451/1991-05-15
Global ImageWorks, LLC.
LPE360. All rights reserved. Used under license.
NBC News Archives Offline via GETTY Images
Timothy Goldman
Global Scenic Services
Drew Bachrach
Pond5 www.pond5.com
Storyblocks

Staff