Josh Borow FS 11

Ms. Gokturk 2/05/02

Review of Hey Little Walter

The play Hey Little Walter by Carla Debbie Alleyne was an exhilarating Off-Broadway show. I liked it very much as it showed the present times of a teenager's life in a ghetto. I give it two thumbs up, as it illustrated a great grasp of teenager's lives and the hardships teenagers might meet in their lives. A very strange thing about this play is that a high school student wrote it.

The play starts off with a teenager named Walter, being asked by his friend Rakim, to deal some drugs with him. Walter refuses because he knows that drugs are dangerous and can get you into deep trouble maybe even leading to death. However, after a series of events Walter changed his mind. His desire for money, his girlfriend back, and many other things, makes him decide to join Rakim and deal. Rakim wants to stop dealing because of a tragic accident but Walter wanted to continue as things all were starting to take a turn for the worst. The author does an excellent job of showing the cycle of how teenagers get hooked to drugs, and dealing. Throughout the short story there were many interesting and true to life scenes that occurred. Rakim played by Josh Borow (ME!), Walter played by Greg Postyn, Nikky played by Amy Todd, Albert played by Adam Gold, Trey played by Eric Hirsch, Latoya played by Stacy Lee, and Mama played by Polina Dolganovskaya all showed great acting skills in the way they made me believe the scene was actually happening in front of my eyes. One scene I especially liked was when Albert was shooting hoops by himself and talking to himself about how he would be great. I liked this scene because little kids do things like that and I can remember when I talked to myself and said I can do it and I'll show them. The scenery and special effects were very mediocre for that just shows you how great the characters played their parts. I could picture the scene perfectly with barely any scenery just some illusions. Everyone did a great job and the play turned out to be a success.

Overall the play made me think of what my life is like and how peer pressure can really affect your life. I realize how lucky I am, in that I have never truly been pressured to do something I didn't want to do. The reality of this play shows me how a real teenagers life is like in some areas that are not as wealthy. I would recommend this book to all teenagers. It would help them see from the outside what is happening in their life if this is actually happening in their life, and it also shows uneducated teenagers more about the streets and what how other teenagers are living their life.