Review: Andresia Moseley Gives Phenomenal Multi-Character Performance in TWILIGHT: LOS ANGELES 1992 at Jobsite Theater

You can't call Anna Deavere Smith's Twilight, Los Angeles, 1992 a time capsule because that tumultuous period and social injustice is still happening today. Andresia Moseley's one-woman performance as more characters than I literally can remember was, in a word, superb. She slipped from African-American to Spanish to Korean to Caucasian to every other ethnic group I've forgotten as effortlessly as adding or removing a piece of costume. Accents were sped up or delivered with the slowest precision, vocal octaves high or low to depict whether man or woman was speaking. I learned more about what happened in 1992 from this newspaper-style performance than I remembered as an actual twenty-three-year-old living through that volatile time in history.

Twilight, Los Angeles, 1992 is an unflinching look at race relations from the voices of the people that were there, whether in the heart of it or bystanders... effectively portrayed by one woman. It's a deep dive into the injustices that occurred that led to the savage beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police officers captured for the world to see on videotape; the fatal shooting of 15-year-old Latasha Harlins, whom the Korean grocer believed was shoplifting; the assault on truck driver Reginald Denny by rioters, and the two very controversial case verdicts. The play also recounts the uneasy relations among African-Americans, Caucasians, Asians, and Mexican Americans in South-Central LA.

Each character is created from monologues verbatim from over 300 real-life interviews.

If you think something is missing in translation by viewing a recorded live stream performance online, the magic of theatre is not lost. The film technique employed that brings Andresia into your home is as perfect as her performance. I expect a Broadway World "Best Actress" nomination for this epic account of a city in pain. If you are stuck at home safely social distancing, make a $9.99 investment in Jobsite's virtual play. You will not be disappointed.

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