Notes from the Field, Royal Court, review: giving America's trauma an urgent voice

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Writer and actress Anna Deavere Smith stars in Notes from the Field
Writer and actress Anna Deavere Smith stars in Notes from the Field Credit: Joan Marcus

We have already been treated to one solo tour de force this year at the Royal Court: Carey Mulligan in Girls & Boys, written by Dennis Kelly and examining masculine violence in a domestic setting. 

A deserved hit, it has newly transferred to New York. Now, hailing from the other side of the Atlantic and a different realm of theatrical endeavour, comes another triumph of the monologue form, premiering here courtesy of the London International Festival of Theatre (Lift).

Where Girls & Boys is a work of fiction, Notes from the Field is the result of more than 250 interviews conducted by a doyen of the verbatim theatre form, the actress Anna Deavere Smith. Best known for playing National Security...

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