Fires in the Mirror Response

As the dramaturg of this theater company, I am here to persuade you to rethink your decision about cutting the opening monologues of Smith's play out. There is a reason for everything in a script and the play would not be whole without every word. Smith chooses to include these couple of monologues in the beginning to preface the heavy subject of the Crown Heights riots. What I mean by this is that Smith did not want to start the play by jumping directly into the terrifying and grave deaths; she wanted to ease into it. Though it might be hard to see when you first read they play, these opening monologues do relate to the subject matter at hand. For example, in Static, the second monologue of the play, a Jewish woman tells a story about her religion. Though she says nothing directly about the Crown Heights riots, it is just as important and relevant. I say this because the racial divide between Jews and Blacks in the neighborhood is what caused the riots. So Smith chooses to include these kinds of monologues to show what it was like living as a Jew in the neighborhood at the time, which is extremely important and influential to grasp before hearing stories about the riots. Remember that in this play and every other play, nothing is a mistake; everything written was for a reason. The monologues in the beginning of the script, though you could not see their relation to the Crown Heights riots, share the circumstances and the environment that the riots occurred in. They paint the world of racial divide in Crown Heights, which is just as important as the story of the incidents themselves. So please, I beg you, do not start the play with "Lousy Language" because you will loose half of the message and purpose.