Customer Reviews

Short Eyes: A Play (Mermaid Dramabook Series)

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Miguel Pinero's play "Short Eyes" opened as part of the New York Shakespeare Festival in 1975. This play deals with life in prison; its flavor of authenticity probably comes from the fact that the author himself had spent time in prison.

"Short Eyes" involves a multiethnic group of inmates whose lives are affected by the incarceration of a mild-mannered white man charged with a particularly shocking crime. Pinero creates a fascinating portrayal of a racially fractured subculture in which whites are the minority. His prison is populated with many memorable characters: the African-American inmate El Raheem, whose "Black Muslim"-inspired dialogue is marked by quick wordplay and messianic fury; Longshoe, the tough white inmate; Cupcakes, the pretty-boy who is the object of another inmate's lust, and more.

Pinero's claustrophobic world of Blacks, Puerto Ricans, and whites could be seen as a frightening microcosm of the larger American society: a world of destructive compulsions and violence. Pinero's dialogue is often penetrating and shocking; his characters are alive with raw pain and rage. "Short Eyes" may be too much for some readers to handle, but those with a serious interest in American drama or Puerto Rican literature, this is a remarkable work of art.

An insider's view of life in the notorious Tombs on Rikers Island, where New York City used to house prisoners awaiting trial. Pinero was an important poet and playright, and co-founder of The Nuyorican Poet's Cafe. This drama tells the story of a middle class white man arrested for child molestion, a "short eyes" in prison slang. These prisoners are held in special contempt by the rest of prison society, and this man is a particularly easy target. Pinero has the voice of authority, making this a rare prison drama with the ring of truth. The play was was also made into a brilliant movie.

The play "Short Eyes" is a powerfully told truth about prison life. The setting takes place in the day room of a House of Detention. The cast of actors are mostly made up of Blacks, Puerto Ricans and a few Whites. They are young convicts. They exchange taunts, fighting & insults just to keep their sanity intact, and some sense of a community. An accused child molester is brought into the cellblock. He is called a degenerate by a guard. A child molester (or in prison slang a "short eyes") is considered the most despicable of people. Mr. Pinero, while serving a five year sentence for armed robbery in Sing Sing Prison, started writing the play. Marvin Felix Camillo read some of Miguel's work and asked him to sign up in his drama workshop in the prison. This was a workshop for convicts interested in writing and acting. Miguel was encouraged to write plays. The drama work shop evolved into an acting company called The Family. Joseph Papp produced the play "Short Eyes" at the Lincoln Center in New York City. Short Eyes won the best American play of 1973 & 74 by the New York drama critics circle award. Miguel Pinero's play "Short Eyes" is straight on! It doesn't pull any punches. It holds back absolutely nothing on life in jail.

This was a real dark, nasty play that speaks directly to the ghetto experience. I wanted to teach it to a high school class, but my boss said no way - far too violent, too much bad language and prison homosex. The author was a legitimate convict himself - a small-time thief and drug fiend who died of AIDS (I think) at the age of 35-40. This play was something that he started in a prison writing class, and while he may have been a hoodlum, he could really write. This is very potent, intense stuff all the way thru - it is a harrowing journey, but one worth taking. Pinero had an excellent sense of drama and tension, and this play is brimming with both.

The story focuses on a group of toughs in a New York State penitentiary. Most of them are Black, a couple are Hispanic, and one is an Irish-American. One of them is an attractive young man who keeps getting hit on by a predatory gay convict. Another has adopted a half-baked radical philosophy. Into this mix comes Clark, a quiet, seemingly respectable upper middle-class white man, who has no business being there except that he is a "short eyes" - a child molester. The tension grows as it becomes clear that some of the other inmates want to kill him or at least turn his life into a hell. At one point, Clark confesses in great detail to another inmate - he is a hardcore, serial child molester and Pinero sticks the knife in and turns it as he describes the little girls falling for Clark and thinking of him as a boyfriend or something.

I have seen several movies or plays that depict prison life, but this one is the best. It is dark and brutal, but also totally believable.

Powerful, Extremely easy to read. I wish I could see it done as a play.

This play captures the intense racial and ethnic survival networks that develop in a prison. Men must join with other men of the same race or ethnicity or risk being victimized. Blacks bond with Blacks, white with whites, Latinos with Latinos. Conflict, competition, and smoldering violence characterize the relationship between these groups. Pinero captures this prison sub-culture very well in his play Short Eyes.

Yet within each group are individual characters with their own motives and desires and manipulations. Again Pinero captures these characters very well, especially the White gang leader, Longshoe, and the Black Muslim gang leader.

Into this mix comes a white fellow, who is initially recruited by the white gang until it is revealed that he is charged with child molestation, a crime called 'short eyes' by prisoners. This man is brutally tortured and killed in the jail setting, only to find out later that he was misidentified. Yet he demonstrates clearly what happens to the scapegoat, the outsider, even in a world of outsiders.

The language is rough and realistic. The tension between prisoners remains taunt, never letting up, and thus revealing the terrible existance that life behind bars presents.

In 1975 this play was highly controversial with its display of racial tension, homosexuality, and murder within a prison. However such TV shows as OZ have introduced US audiences to the racial dynamics and the sexual relationships behind bars. Thus this play was ground-breaking in its time, even though today's audiences may not find it as shocking as viewers/readers in the 1970s.

It is still highly recommended.