Anna Deavere Smith is an actress and playwright seeking to explore the American character. She travels to Crown Heights shortly after the 1991 riots to interview a wide variety of residents, community leaders, activists, and intellectuals. By assuming the exact words of her subjects, she attempts to reflect the complex realities of racial tension without imposing her own psychological realism onto the narrative.

The Reverend Al Sharpton is a prominent political celebrity and New York activist. He becomes heavily involved in the aftermath of Gavin Cato's death, demanding the arrest of the driver and leading protest marches through Crown Heights. He maintains a confrontational but direct style, refusing to accept what he views as insults or double standards from the media and the justice system.

Carmel Cato is a Guyanese immigrant and the grieving father of Gavin Cato. He recounts the chaotic scene of the car crash and expresses intense frustration with how the police treated him while his son was dying on the ground. Relying on a superstition about the circumstances of his birth, he seeks personal strength while dealing with his lingering pain and anger.

Norman Rosenbaum is an Australian man whose brother, Yankel, is murdered on the streets of Crown Heights. He flies to New York and demands institutional justice, passionately arguing that his brother was targeted solely for being Jewish. He maintains relentless pressure on the police and political leaders to hold the attackers accountable, refusing to return home until the matter is resolved.

Gavin Cato is a seven-year-old Black boy who is fatally struck by a car in the procession of the Lubavitcher Grand Rebbe. His tragic death on an August evening in 1991 acts as the primary catalyst for the Crown Heights riots. The lack of an indictment against the driver fuels immense outrage and feelings of systemic neglect in the local Black community.

Yankel Rosenbaum is a twenty-nine-year-old Hasidic scholar visiting from Australia. Mere hours after the car crash that kills Gavin Cato, he is surrounded and fatally stabbed by a group of young men on the streets of Crown Heights. His murder becomes a central rallying point for the Jewish community's demands for justice and their fear of targeted anti-Semitism.

Rabbi Joseph Spielman is an authoritative spokesperson for the Lubavitch community in Crown Heights. He vigorously defends the actions of the Hasidic driver involved in the fatal car accident, claiming the driver tried to help the children but was attacked. He views Yankel Rosenbaum's subsequent murder as a malicious act of anti-Semitism, distinguishing it from the accidental nature of the car crash.

Richard Green is a community leader who works with the Crown Heights Youth Collective. He attempts to de-escalate the riots from the streets but recognizes that the young people possess an uncontrollable rage born of systemic neglect. He points out that many of the youths lack positive role models and do not fully grasp the historical weight of their actions.

Yosef Lifsh is the Hasidic driver whose vehicle runs onto the sidewalk, striking and killing Gavin Cato. After the crash, he is quickly taken away from the scene in a private Jewish ambulance, a decision that ignites immediate fury among the gathered crowd. He subsequently leaves the United States for Israel, avoiding a trial and deepening community resentment.

Lemrick Nelson, Jr. is a sixteen-year-old Black youth who is arrested for the fatal stabbing of Yankel Rosenbaum. His involvement and subsequent trial become major flashpoints for both communities. Some locals defend his character, arguing that as a dedicated athlete, he would not have engaged in senseless violence.

Letty Cottin Pogrebin is a fifty-year-old white author of Jewish descent and a founding editor of Ms. Magazine. She expresses concern about the frequent and potentially desensitizing use of Holocaust stories, while still feeling compelled to share the traumatic history of her uncle Isaac. She critiques how the media exploits tensions between marginalized groups.

Ntozake Shange is a mid-forties Black female playwright, poet, and novelist. She views personal identity as a psychic sense of place, comparing it to a desert that she is both a part of and separate from. Her perspective sets the thematic stage for the play's exploration of how environment and experience shape character.

This white woman in her mid-thirties lives in Crown Heights and speaks to Smith while managing her domestic duties. She wears a wig and loose-fitting clothes in accordance with her religious customs. She recounts a story about a young Black boy helping her family turn off a radio on the Sabbath, finding humor in the cultural gap.

George C. Wolfe is a Black male playwright who speaks to Smith with an easy confidence. He reflects on his experiences growing up in a supportive Black community before confronting the realities of segregation. He firmly refuses to define his identity or his Blackness in relation to whiteness.

Aaron M. Bernstein is a fifty-year-old physicist at MIT who explains the mechanics of mirrors and telescopes. He discusses how mirrors reflect light and substance but can also distort images if there are errors in their construction. His scientific explanation serves as a central metaphor for the play's thematic goals.

This Black teenager of Haitian descent attends junior high school in Brooklyn. She discusses beauty standards, hairstyles, and the racial dynamics among her classmates. Her perspective highlights the early formation of personal identity and the social lines drawn between Black and Latina girls in her environment.

Rivkah Siegal is a Lubavitcher woman who discusses the Hasidic custom of married women wearing wigs. While she looked forward to the practice in her youth, she now experiences personal conflict because wearing the wig makes her feel artificial. She struggles to reconcile her communal obligations with her sense of self.

Angela Davis is a Black author, academic scholar, and former prominent activist working as a professor in California. She discusses the history of race, arguing that it was a pseudo-scientific concept invented solely to justify racism and physical oppression. She advocates for a new, dynamic understanding of community solidarity that does not rely on blind racial allegiance.

Monique Matthews is a Black female rapper and former student of Smith. She strongly criticizes the objectification of women in the rap industry, rejecting male artists who denigrate women. She seeks to create music defined by true rhythm and poetry, asserting her intelligence and refusing to compromise her dignity for fame.

Leonard Jeffries is a Black professor of African-American Studies who feels targeted by the mass media. He recounts his frustrating experience working as a historical consultant on the television series Roots. He displays a defiant attitude, believing his professional struggles and public controversies have only cemented his strength.

Minister Conrad Mohammed is a Black minister representing the Nation of Islam. He describes slavery as the greatest crime in human history because it structurally stripped Black people of their names, cultural knowledge, and personal identity. He firmly believes that Black people are the true chosen people of God.

Robert F. Sherman is an interviewee who discusses the demographic realities of Crown Heights, noting that the Hasidim are a numerical minority in the area. He addresses the vocabulary of prejudice, arguing that American society lacks an honest and expansive language to properly discuss bias and discrimination.

Reverend Canon Doctor Heron Sam is a Black pastor at St. Mark's Church in Crown Heights. He severely criticizes the police escorts provided to the Grand Rebbe, viewing the fatal car accident as a consequence of reckless driving. He frames the ensuing community anger and rioting as a predictable explosion of mounting tension.

This young Caribbean American man is a resident of Crown Heights who directly witnessed the fatal car crash. He describes his intense anger at the scene, feeling that the Hasidic driver was intoxicated and receiving preferential treatment from emergency services. He harbors deep cynicism about the possibility of achieving justice in America.

Michael S. Miller is a Jewish public figure who attends Gavin Cato's funeral and is disturbed by the highly political atmosphere. He expresses deep frustration that no words of comfort are offered for Yankel Rosenbaum at the service. He vehemently rejects the idea that preferential treatment justifies anti-Semitic violence.

Henry Rice is a Black resident of Crown Heights who works with local youth during the riots to prevent further escalation. He attempts to keep young people off the streets but ends up being struck by a police officer while advocating nonviolence. He understands the profound systemic rage felt by the Black youth in his neighborhood.

This soft-spoken young Black resident of Crown Heights is interviewed alongside Anonymous Young Man #1. He draws a clear distinction between dedicated athletes and street-hardened "bad boys," arguing that the accused teenager could not have stabbed Yankel Rosenbaum because he was focused on sports.

Sonny Carson is a Black activist and community organizer who holds a deep distrust of the police, viewing them as an occupying army. He embraces his public image as a villain, taking pride in his ability to understand the language and anger of the neighborhood's youth. He outright dismisses conventional calls for societal healing and unity.

Rabbi Shea Hecht is a middle-aged Lubavitcher rabbi and community spokesperson. He explains the strict religious customs that prevent leaders like the Grand Rebbe from engaging in certain social interactions, such as eating in non-kosher homes. He defends the heavy police presence around the Rebbe as a matter of basic logistical necessity.

Roslyn Malamud is a Lubavitcher resident of Crown Heights who feels trapped in her home during the unrest. She firmly believes the riots are entirely instigated by outside agitators and political opportunists rather than her actual neighbors. She struggles to understand the systemic anger of the Black community, viewing the unrest purely as senseless violence.

Reuven Ostrov is a Lubavitcher youth who works as an assistant chaplain at Kings County Hospital during the riots. He is deeply shaken by the unrest and recounts the tragic suicide of an elderly Jewish immigrant woman who felt trapped by the violence. He explicitly blames prominent activists for inciting the community to violence.

Isaac is the uncle of author Letty Cottin Pogrebin and a survivor of the Holocaust. Because of his Aryan appearance, he was forced by his community's elders to survive by any means necessary so he could serve as a witness to the atrocities. He carries the immense psychological trauma of his survival for the rest of his life.

Alex Haley is the acclaimed author of the novel Roots. During the production of the television adaptation, he invites Leonard Jeffries to serve as a consultant. His decision to sell the rights to the story becomes a major source of professional frustration for Jeffries.