"Short Eyes" by Manuel Rivera Jr.
Miguel Piñero's play is a drama portraying life in a society of incarceration. This mirrors that of the outside world, with the same ideals of social acceptance, values and morals. Although both worlds are parallel, these same ideals are stricter inside the famed "Tombs" of New York City.
In the play, we see a man's word carries weight, where he just cannot go around making promises for the mere sake of it without expecting any repercussions. As Omar honestly explains to Mr. Nett when asked to promise to quit fighting: "I can't give my word on something like that...my word is my bond. Man in prison ain't got nothing but his word, and he's got to be careful who and how and for what he give it for."
The judgement and execution of Clark Davis, the alleged child rapist (and also the only middle class white prisoner ), by his fellow inmates might seem swift and brutal. However, this very group of his peers, this community that carries out his sentence, stems from the community of the outside world.
The Characters in the play are Black, Puerto Rican and White. All have their own way of getting along with one another within their own society and of finding a means to escape insanity and mental defeat, whether through love, religion, violence, drugs or any number of other devices. "Short Eyes" is not just a play about life in prison, but also one about life itself.
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