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» Sticks and Stones

image Sticks and Stones

“Sticks and Stones may break your bones, but words do permanent damage”..... How much effect do words have on us? There's not one simple answer but this play looks at the different perspectives of race relations in America.

The play, written by Drew McWeeny and Scott Swan, stars just two characters and was only half an hour long! But how gripping it was. We focus on a white middle class American cop, played by Walle Jobara, who is being set on trial not only by the judiciary system but also by the media for the death of a black boy, who the cop has no regrets in killing. The cop is defended by a Jewish lawyer, played by Jason Wing, who tries to make it clear to him that he is filled with hate towards black people. Wing's character is much like the loved US detective Columbo, whose nonchalant manner riles his adversaries but he always gets his point across.

What is even more interesting but never really goes any deeper is why the cop can't see people as people; instead he sees them by their ethnic grouping. He states that his first defence attorney was a Hindi man. He repeatedly refers to the lawyer as a Jew and assumes that because the lawyer is Jewish, he then automatically must be good at his job. Which is the same way that he looks at black people, they are clearly good at breaking the law and so the punishment worthy of them is death.

One of the most attention-grabbing comments made by the cop is that black people hold on to the fact that they have been discriminated against and they simply need to get over it. He quite simply states that the Jews have been through some ‘challenging times' and yet they find a way to move on and be productive members of society, and so he asks why can't black people do the same? “They're not gonna cure cancer, not gonna be the next president”. Of course with Barack Obama as the president of the United States of America, most people do see the black community moving forward and not using the pains of the past to hold us down but instead to elevate us higher. But is that enough? As this police cop sees no issues in describing black people as n****s, I have to reiterate “Sticks and Stones may break your bones but words do permanent damage…”

The play was superbly acted out with both actors displaying the emotion of hate and disgust towards one another. However it felt as if it was just scratching the surface of prejudge America and police brutality. Another core theme throughout the play was the manipulation of the media. Idealistically seen by the mass public as an impartial report on current affairs, the lawyer breaks down how he should be using the news papers and television to his advantage instead of allowing them to demonise him. This is a theme that is another subject altogether but I felt that it was conveyed well and gave more dimension to the play. This boils down to the fundamental issues of the play, the lawyer knowing the cop killed the black boy with pure hate, and questioning if he should take on this case and increase his profile or allow his moral judgement to kick in? That's one thing I'm not going to spoil, when this play is next on, go and see the play for yourself and decide whether you would have made the same decision or not.

Stay tuned for more installments from the team behind Sticks and Stones; you won't be disappointed!

Written By Deborah King

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  • dominicstluke

    dominicstluke – 26-06-2009 17:00:22

    sounds good. Let us know when there is another performance


  • dominicstluke

    dominicstluke – 26-06-2009 17:01:05

    sounds good. Let us know when there is another performance


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