Don't Leave them in the Dark

These are Anna Deavere Smith's haunting final words in her one-woman play, Let me Down Easy, at the ART. She's referencing the millions of children in Africa who are dying of AIDS -- specifically those at the Chance Orphanage in Johannesburg. But figuratively with those words she's speaking to the broader issues of mortality, vulnerability and resilience.

The artist and actress informs the audience that her play is about grace. It is about that and much more, touching on genocide, Katrina victims, horse racing and fittingly, the state of the U.S. health care system. One man, learning that his heart transplant will cost $250,000, simply laughs heartily and exclaims "That's less than the cost of a Ferrari!"

Overall, Let Me Down Easy entertains and enlightens with sad, thought-provoking and moving testimonials of life, injustice and beauty.

At the ART in Cambridge, MA through October 11.