Anna Deavere Smith, TRANSCRIPT - PBS ARTS… A GOOD MAN

tease :30…

Good evening and welcome once again to the PBS ARTS FALL FESTIVAL… I’m Anna Deavere Smith and tonight’s performance comes to us from the Ravinia Festival, just outside Chicago. This film captures the process of choreographer Bill T Jones as he struggles with the legacy of Abraham Lincoln – A GOOD MAN. But do we say “good” with a question mark or an exclamation point?... a loaded question for the artist as well as the audience. And now, A GOOD MAN.

introduction… 1:30

It could arguably be said that the favorite-est son ever to hail from the state of Illinois is Abraham Lincoln. He has been revered, reviled, he is beloved, he is sainted, he is quoted and he is the lifeblood not just of political thinkers and statesmen but he also burns in the imaginations of writers and playwrights, and photographers and filmmakers, and now in the great mind of the choreographer Bill T Jones.

Lincoln himself said, “I will prepare and someday my chance will come…” How does one prepare and how, Jones wonders, does a Black man of today take on the giant that is Lincoln? Lincoln is a series of ideas and how does the body become a body politic, used to express emotion, position, defiance, grace and then history?.

This work was created to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth, 2009, which marked the inaugural year of the first Black president of this country, Barack Obama. The transference is almost haunting, that nearly 150 years after the Civil War and on the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth we still sit in the elbow of a tree, wondering how race fits in this country and how we tell tales about it.

So, tonight, get on the great train ride of democracy, and contemplate with us, from AMERICAN MASTERS, A GOOD MAN.

stay tuned… :15 (stands alone)

We hope you’ve enjoyed this thought-provoking film, A GOOD MAN, which presents Bill T. Jones’ dilemma in translating history into art. I’ll be back in a moment to discuss that with writer and critic Stanley Crouch. Please stay with us.


close… :30

Thank you again for watching. As always we invite you to learn more about this program and others in our PBS ARTS FALL FESTIVAL by checking out our website, pbs.org/arts…

And remember, next week, if Eve sprung from the rib of Adam, it was absolutely inevitable that soon she’d figure out how to get a guitar in her hand… and not only play it, ROCK! So from Cleveland, join us next time for WOMEN WHO ROCK, as our Fall Festival continues.

I’m Anna Deavere Smith, good night.