Writer, performer and professor Anna Deavere Smith says the U.S. is on the verge of a new civil rights movement. And, she says, the theater might help get people involved.

That's one of the goals of her new work, "Notes from the Field: Doing Time in Education." It'll be put up by the American Repertory Theater at the Loeb Drama Center in Cambridge this month.

Deavere Smith is well-known for her roles on "West Wing" and "Nurse Jackie." She also received the 2013 National Humanities Medal from President Obama.

Her plays have been called a new form of theater — usually one-woman shows where Deavere Smith portrays several different characters reflecting on a social justice issue.

This newest play focuses on education and mass incarceration.

Anna Deavere Smith, writer, professor and performer. Her latest work is "Notes from the Field: Doing Time in Education." She tweets @AnnaDeavereS.