Chris Campbell

Freshman Studies

2/06/02

Rave, excellent, perfection and the list goes on. These are the words that come to mind to describe my opinion of the show, Hey Little Walter, written by Carla Debbie Alleyne. This show can now be seen at the Springfield theatre in Manhattan. There is a reason for I have given this show a reputation to be excellent. The director did a great job with the scenery. Although saying that it was perfection was an imperfection on my judgment. I felt that although the symbolism that was used in the show was in a way being hidden from the audience.

Hey Little Walter, is a performance written by Carla Debbie Alleyene, a high school student who wrote this at the age of sixteen. It takes place in the Bronx, where Walter, Albert his little brother, Mama his mother, Rakim his best friend, Latoya his younger sister, and Nicky his ex-girlfriend live. Walter’s lifestyle is in a way stereotypical towards a black family. Their lifestyle is low standard they live in a small apartment, with little money and they have to struggle each month to pay all the bills on time. One day Rakim walks up to Walter and suggests that he starts to get involved with the drug ring in New York. At first Walter says no, but then he sees how much of a factor money plays in his life as well as the lives of the people of around him. So, just like that Walter gives into to Rakim. They were asked to pick up some stuff and drop off, but the guy who they were supposed to deliver to got killed. Walter gets the idea to sell and make the money. This makes Walter think that he’s living the high life, but then just like everything else in our world.

The overall production of Hey Little Walter was fantastic from the actors to the effects. The actors all deserve an enormous applause for an amazing performance. The major actors in the play were Chris Campbell as Walter, Hillary Wool as Rakim, Lindsey Blane as Latoya, Tom Longworth as Albert, and Mea Geizals as Mama. All the actors fit the characters so well and you could truly tell that they try hard because they acted with such emotion. Symbolism plays an important role in this production. Symbolism is shown in the sets. For Example the scenes that are outside all seem to resemble the same qualities. The director, Hugo Pineda, did a fantastic job with picking the appropriate actors for their roles and having just such a touch with the secenery. Not all productions just have good aspects, after all how would we know what good is if we have nothing to judge it against. The acting was fantastic, however I don’t think that the actor’s rehearsed their lines enough and didn’t know them to the fullest that they could have.

I feel that that this show deserves to be viewed by everyone. The viewers should be teenagers because they are really what this show is aimed towards, but because kids are so impressionable at young ages than seeing this show might help them more than seeing it when they are a teenagers. I feel that this is a great show and should be seen by everyone no matter what the age. I think that it is amazing that someone so young could see what was happening around her and was brave enough to stand up and tell the world what was happening.