JustArts spoke with Mira Kessler '16 and Makalani Mack '16, two Brandeis Bridges Fellows who are directing an upcoming production of Fires in the Mirror.

JustArts: As Brandeis Bridges Fellows, how did the idea to share your experiences through a play come up?

Mira Kessler: Actually, in our application process, we had to write about an event that we would plan when we got back to campus, after Israel. I'm really into theater so I thought I could direct a play, and I had this specific play in mind, Fires in the Mirror. ... I think it was Ryan [Yuffe '14], one of the founders of the group, who was like, "Hey, we want you to do the play, and you should talk to [Mackalani], he would want to get involved." So then, before we even knew each other really, the week before winter break, we met and talked about directing it together.

JA: For those who are unfamiliar with Fires in the Mirror, could you tell us a bit about the production?

Makalani Mack: It's about the 1991 riots between Jews and blacks in Crown Heights, in New York. It started out when an African-American young boy was hit by a Jewish-American in a car, and riots spilled out continuously after that. The play is pretty much ... a collection of monologues from both blacks and Jewish characters in that time.

MK: It was originally a one-woman show, and she does all the characters-but we're not going to do it as a one-person show... because it's a play of monologues, it's really flexible on the number of people in the cast. I guess the idea was really to bring the two communities together, though. And it was pretty contemporary-1991 was not that long ago.

JA: What elements of your experience as Bridges Fellows do you hope to share with your audience, and what do you hope they'll take away from the production?

MK: What I've learned most in the Bridges experience is that, I think, everyone going into it was a little apprehensive, like "can members of these two communities actually become really close friends, and work together, and learn to really respect each other?" And I think we found that, yes, we definitely can, because now members of the group are some of my closest friends on campus. I think what we hope to achieve through the play is to give the cast the same opportunity to form these bonds... The play is kind of alienating, in a way, because you see how much conflict and how little willingness there is for both sides to meet in the middle or admit that they were wrong, so I think we hope that, by being able to look back at the conflict that people see in front of them, that they'll be able to realize how ridiculous it is that our differences keep us apart.

MM: One thing I learned while in Israel is that, as an African-American, we have been through our share of traumatizing experiences. This play has one traumatizing experience that involves both parties against each other. ... I hope it can bring everybody together in that setting, seeing what we've gone through, but at the same time, seeing that we're both here on this campus, sharing this space. I think that, hopefully, even just with blacks and whites, we can find a way to get over this hump, and find a way to get over stereotypes, and find a way to get over the fears of sparking a conversation with somebody that you've never met before. Hopefully that will happen there, and that didn't happen in 1991 because there was so much tension. It's not really, I guess, an "announced" tension on campus, but you can feel it, just because-there's just so much misconception, and a lot of times people hold that in their minds and that just builds up.

JA: What are you most looking forward to about the production and the performance?

MM: I can't wait for the first night we show, especially because everything's falling into place successfully.

MK: Same. I'm just excited for it all to come together, and for relationships to form... We're just really optimistic because we saw how well we can interact and how close the two communities can become, so I think we're in this state of wanting to share it with everyone.