ABSTRACT
Perhaps what we need is not only myth but also performance. In this respect, Anna Deavere Smith offers an impressive theatrical perspective on racism. In an article with a title that employs the "under the skin" metaphor, the theater critic John Lahr interviews Smith and reviews Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 , a performance about the "Rodney King incident," the case in which several white policemen severely beat a black man, whom they had arrested. The beating of King was videotaped and then televised in slow, blow-by-blow motion. When a first trial resulted in an acquittal of the policemen on charges of brutality, Los Angeles erupted in a riot of protest and vengeance. (A second trial eventually resulted in the conviction of two of the white policemen for violations of the civil rights of King.) Black men beat white men—among them, Reginald Denny. (Four black men also rescued Denny.) As with the beating of King, the beating of Denny was videotaped and televised.
