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West Side Story Play Analysis

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West Side Story Play Analysis
There have been several moments in theatre that seems to whitewash the ethnic characters. West Side Story is one of those musicals. West Side Story is a loose musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The twist is that it’s set in 1950s New York, with the plot set around youth street gangs entangled in a racially charged conflict over their “territory” in the lower West Side of Manhattan. There is the Puerto Rican “Sharks” led by Bernardo, who has recently brought his family, including younger sister Maria, to New York from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Then there are the Polish-Irish “Jets”, led by Riff, formerly led by Tony. In the Original Cast of West Side Story in 1957 only one of the three principal characters portraying Puerto
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