Channeling a dramatic range of interview subjects, from artists and athletes to doctors and those they treat, Let Me Down Easy features first person accounts from the world of healthcare, covering both the patient and practitioner perspective.
What Is the Story of Let Me Down Easy?
Actress, writer and expert researcher Anna Deveare Smith returns to the New York stage by shining her distinctive light on a headline-worthy subject: healthcare in America. Taken verbatim from interviews conducted by Smith, Let Me Down Easy pieces together stories from across the spectrum of experience. The actress recreates each speaker onstage, covering a varied cast of characters from Tour de France champion and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong to a professional bull fighter to former Texas Governor Ann Richards to a variety of experts from the health care industry, creating a vivid snapshot of the arguments from all sides of a complex subject.
""Tracing a graceful--and, at 95 minutes, nimble--arc from lighthearted and funny to downright philosophical, Smith creates the mosaic portrait of an America disconnected from the cycle of life and unwilling to face death as natural and inevitable.""
The New York Post
Elisabeth Vincentelli
""Watching Anna Deavere Smith on stage is magical. One minute you are laughing, the next you are crying. It is truly brilliant and stunning.”"
NBC
The Today Show
"“This punchy, 95-minute show is a vital piece of theater, mixing a standup comic’s instincts with a great reporter’s keen eye and delivered with a compassion that is all Anna Deavere Smith.”"
Variety
Sam Thielman
"“Fascinating! This remarkable new show is a joyous celebration of human perserverance.”"
Associated Press
Michael Kuchwara
"“Bracing and poetic with a terrific cumulative impact.”"
The New Yorker
John Lahr