West Side Story Play Analysis

West Side Story is a play that has stood test of time. The musical is based on the story West Side Story by Arthur Laurents. Laurents wrote the book as a loose retelling of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The story was included in a book that contained more of Laurents works. The year in which the book of works was released is unknown. The original production was directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins. The production is based on a conception by Robbins. It was composed by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Before West Side Story became the production it is, it was originally going to be called East Side Story. East Side Story was about an interreligious Christian/Jewish relationship between two young lovers. After

meeting with Laurents, however, the concept of the play was changed as to reflect the current times. West Side Story is set in the mid 1950's, when many Puerto Ricans moved to New York City. The increase in immigration was due to the hurricanes occurring in Puerto Rico. The hurricanes destroyed the crops and the jobs available on the island. Many Puerto Ricans were able to find factory jobs in New York. The production tells the story of rival gangs the Sharks from Puerto Rico, and the Jets who are polish- Americans. The two gangs are in interracial warfare over the turf of the Upper West Side of Manhattan during the last days of summer. Their stories and lives become more complicated once the head Shark Bernardo's little sister Maria and founder of the Jets Tony meet and fall in love. The story tells that such hate and ignorance to one another has detrimental consequences.
Jim Helsinger is the director of the production of West Side Story at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater.

I believe the director's concept for the play was to recreate the classis play about the modern version of Romeo and Juliet while subliminally shed light on similarities in today's society. The director stayed true to the original script and did not stray from it very much. The only notable different is in Jim Helsinger's production is that Doc has a diner. In the original play Doc has a drugstore. The audience understood and recognized the goal of the production. The production offered a discussion in diversity afterwards. Helsinger, as director, casted the production. Many of the performers Helsinger casted were in their debut season at the theater, but they all had extensive backgrounds in theater. Some of the performers, such as Drew Foster (Riff), Karli Dinardo (Anita), Carly Evans (Maria), and Julian Alvarez (Chino) had played their roles before in another theater production. According to the stage pictures, the cast appears to be racially type casted. Jim Helsinger's collaboration with the designers of the other elements of the play was essential for the production's

success.
The story of West Side story has been so influential that it has been recreated and rebooted both theatrically and in film for the past almost six decades. The constant recreations and renditions around the world are what make this play a classic. Director Jim Helsinger's version at the Orlando Shakes Theater is no exception. There were many heterogeneous elements that made the production the amazing experience that it was and an example of good theatre. Helsinger's production was successful due to the excellence in the acting, choreography, the musical direction and sound design, the lighting and scenic design, the costume design, the stage management, and the audience.
Director Jim Helsinger's production of West Side Story at the Orlando Shakes Theater was successful due to its excellence in acting.

The acting was done very well even from before the play officially started. During West Side Story's run at the Orlando Shakespeare Theater, each play has been dedicated to a victims of the Orlando Pulse Night Club shooting. The performance I attended on September 24, 2016 was dedicated to 37-year-old Juan P. Rivera Velazquez, and 22-year-old Luis S. Vielma. To dedicate the performance actors Daniel Martinez and Trevor Starr, who play Pepe and Baby John respectively, came out to speak to the crowd. They began with Starr speaking in English about instructions to be a good audience member and the backstory of the lives of the victims and afterwards Martinez would translate the information into Spanish. As they continued to talk they became angry and annoyed with one another and saw the crowd interaction as a competition. Unbeknownst to the audience, Martinez and Starr were building up the tension and animosity that is held by rival gangs; the Sharks and the Jets. The buildup of animosity before the play traditionally began and set the tone for the remainder of the

play.
The acting, once the play actually began, continued to be believable. Every character spoke in an accent which represented not only their culture but also their time. The Sharks and their girlfriends had versions of Hispanic accents. The accent, I believe, was very necessary to make the audience believe they have all recently immigrated from Puerto Rico to Manhattan, New York. The Jets had the stereotypical New Yorker accents. The accents continued into the singing numbers. Each character has mannerisms that added to the storyline and the scenes. The mannerism and nonverbal cues gave more insight into what was happening onstage and how the character was feeling about it. In Act 1, when Bernardo and the Sharks arrives at Doc's diner to set up the terms of the rumble the Jet girls are dismissed to leave. As they walk off, the girls act disgusted by the sharks as they walk past, likewise the Sharks messed with the Jet girls by both acting disgusted and by making kissing noises towards them. Another example in that scene is when Officer Krupke and Lieutenant come into the diner every rushes to act as if they are interacting nicely with one another. There is no segregation during this façade. While they charade had just began, you could see in the faces on the performers they were acting as if their disdain was still there but they were attempting to mask it. The dirty looks continued during the façade. After Lieutenant Schrank disrespects and tells the sharks to leave, the rival gangs give up on the charade and push one another and give each other dirty looks. These little mannerisms that one would expect to not be important are, in fact, very essential in the overall plausibility of the play. The mannerisms are important because they demonstrate how the performers do not break character or change the atmosphere of the scene when they are not the focus of the scene.
The acting was also believable because of the language. The language used was both reflective of how people act in reality, and a reflection of the society in that time in the mid- 1950's. An example of this is the use of the word "tea" in the song "Gee, Officer Krupke" in lieu of using marijuana. This was a slang term used back then. The language was reflective of how people act in reality because the language differed with who the characters were conversing with. For instance, when the Sharks and Jets interacted with one another the language was rude, hateful, and hurtful. The Jets would use racial slurs such as "Spic" and "Brown Boy" in reference to the Sharks. The Shark would refer to the Jets as "Americano" as to offend them. The Jets are also referred to as "half breeds" and "Polacks" because they were Polish-Americans. The language used shows how people in reality can treat and speak to one another because, people will typically be hateful and mean to people they dislike. In contrast, when interacting with people in their own groups the dialect changes. This shown when the Jets refer to one another as "Daddy-o" and "Buddy Boy".
This language is also reflective of the ignorance that was presence in the mid- 1950's. There has been a history of negative race relations in the United States between people of color and white Americans not only in the 1900's but also today. People of color have been called racial slurs for centuries however the 1900's, both when the play was written and it takes places, is a prime example. People of Asian heritage were referred to as "Oriental", "Chink", and "Jap" to name a few. People of Hispanic origin were called "Spic", "Brownie", and "Wetback" to name a few. African Americans were also called racial slurs. The most notable is "Negro". People of color were also told to go back to where they came from or go somewhere where they are wanted. The dialect and actions of Officer Krupke and Lieutenant Schrank reflect not only the racial bias of the 1950's but the racial bias that exists today. Krupke and Schrank do not like immigrants and this is the most evident in the War Council scene at Doc's store. They dislike both the Sharks and the Jets, however they are more partially to the Jets. Schrank, specifically, calls the Jets "Half-breeds" but still wants to help them and get rid of the Sharks. Juxtaposition to this partialness, Schrank calls the Sharks "trash" and tells them to leave the establishment. Bernardo stands up to oppose and Schrank states " Yes this is a Free country and I don’t have the right, but it's a country with laws and I will find the right." This interaction displays that Schrank has, not only, a power complex but is also a racist. The production is a theatrically representation of what is happening in today's society and what society was like.
In conclusion the acting in the production was very good. I was held captivated by the accents and shocked by the language and dialect, because I knew that this really happens and has happened. I felt like I could actually change what was happening on stage. For Instance, when the rumble is happening and Bernardo and Riff bring out the switch blades, I gasped. Silently to myself, I said "DON’T DO THIS. THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A CLEAN FAIR FIGHT. YOU GUYS ARE MORE SIMILAR THAN YOU ARE DIFFERENT, JUST BEING FRIENDS." The same occurrence happened when Anita is assaulted by the Jets when attempting to find Tony to save him. I understood her feelings and wanted the Jets to get in trouble for their actions. I became invested in what happened to the character. During the rumble I found myself attempting to dodge and recoil from potential blows. When a character cried, I found myself tearing up and in the end I was both speechless and breathless with the production. The production gave me this feeling because it uses different elements to make the acting believable and all the while the performer's do not break character. The lack of breaking character at any point in the performance, even when the actors were not the focus of the scene, shows the talent and professionalism of the actors chosen for the production.