Project Description
The purpose of Twilight: Los Angeles 1992 was to create a dialogue and to use the ambiance and techniques of theater to inspire discussion about the civil disturbances that took place in Los Angeles in April 1992 following the Rodney King verdict. Twilight evolved from interviews the artist conducted with individuals directly or indirectly involved in the Los Angeles disturbances. The work was created and is performed by Deavere Smith as a one-woman show in which she plays all the characters using verbatim excerpts from their interviews. She also intends for other companies to perform the piece, potentially using casts of various sizes. According to Deavere Smith, "The theater is by nature the art form which creates action through dialogue...If the theater chooses to, it can, from time to time, use its ability to entertain and create spectacle to participate in civic discourse."

Civic Engagement/Dialogue Activities
The Intiman Theatre in Seattle presented Twilight in 1996. The theatre designed a daylong program that brought together youth and adults for discussion of critical issues. The theater first assembled a steering committee composed of youth and adults from the school district, as well as members of the police department and business community. The steering committee helped to identify and invite participants for the daylong program that would culminate with a performance of Twilight by Anna Deavere Smith. Youth were invited from local high schools and the Seattle Center Peace Academy, which trains high school kids to be facilitators of conflict resolution in the schools. Adult participants were invited through the Seattle Chamber of Commerce and the Boeing Corporation.

In the morning, students and adults participated side-by-side in workshops based on Intiman's Living History program. Actors staged a scene of a shooting, and participants were asked to interpret what they saw. Discussion facilitated by the artists led to the realization that there can be many different stories depending on the observer's or the character's point of view. The workshop pointed out how race and class influence perspective of current events. During a lunch break, adults and youth were assigned seating together to "force" people out of their normal conversation groups. Participants then saw the performance of Twilight. An opportunity for discussion followed with Deavere Smith, the superintendent of schools, mayor, and chief of police.