Anna Deavere Smith is a tremendously versatile actress, as fans of her extensive television, film and theater work can attest. She has the ability to imbue her roles with importance, so no matter what she plays you can’t help but pay attention to her. Now Smith has turned her knack for inventing credible characters into a one-woman show called “Let Me Down Easy,” playing at Arena Stage. The script presents 20 impressions of individuals, drawn from more than 300 interviews Smith conducted worldwide.

Smith begins “Let Me Down Easy” with a scenario in which she plays James H. Cone, author and professor at New York’s Union Theological Seminary. As she defines the concept of being “let down easy,” Smith sets the scene for a play that will touch on America’s health care system and the doctors and clergy who minister to the sick. But her real target is the resilience of those who are caught in the role of patient or caregiver and how they cope with the notion of illness itself.