Hail, Hail the Gangs written by James De Jongh, Charles Cleveland,
and Michael McCray was initially just a
play I ran across in the database by random selection. As I began reading it, this play just grabbed my attention right away. It opens with a gunshot. The
main character Ceelow caught at a murder seen and he says “ I didn’t see him
murdered because I was on the roof.” The play goes on to flashback on how
Ceelow became affiliated with the gang and show his progression in gang life.
The play also breaks down the lives and demeanor of the other members of the gang to the
point where as a reader or audience member you form an emotional connection
with each character. Ultimately, the plot of the play was which gang would rise
to the top and be the top gang recognized in Harlem. In the end, both gangs
ended killing each other off and Ceelow was the last man standing. Then the
cops killed him. This play blew my mind
at the ending because it came full circle. I love the choices they made with the
script to use dialogue and slang that would be true to gangs. They also made a
choice in the set design to not have any props its just a bare empty stage in
which the actors have to define and establish the setting by their mannerisms
and dialogue. I loved this because it allowed me to use my imagination as a
reader to picture what the setting would be like instead of it being dictated. The
progression of the play was also something I loved because the play began with
a foreshadowing that Ceelow would be left standing but I didn’t know why at
that point or even why he was in trouble left at the scene of a murder. There
was also a poem that was recited by the gang several times which signified
their passion, strength and belief in the gang. It signified their brotherhood
and explained the importance of the gang. I also think that was a great choice
for them to recite the poem because it set the tone and the emotion of the play.
I also think the choice of leaving Ceelow as the last man standing was
interesting because the two gangs mentioned in the play that were fighting
fought to the death. They were in the gang for far longer than Ceelow too so I think
it signified how he wasn’t really as much of a brother to them as the rest of
the members and even after all that fighting and joining a group he was still
standing alone in the end just as he was in the beginning.
