Play About Gangs May Give Some a Lifetime Script Free of Violence

The press release announcing the event described it as the “largest open casting call ever, nationwide, for male and female gang members.”

Needed for a play called “Gangs II” were 750 gang members: 100 whites, 100 blacks, 100 Latinos, 150 Asians (25 Japanese, 25 Chinese, 25 Koreans, 25 Filipinos, 25 Thais, 25 Vietnamese) 100 American Indians, 100 females (mixed), 100 Middle Eastern types.

About 200 people--not nearly as large or as diverse a group as the producer had hoped for--showed up at a Music Center annex rehearsal hall Sunday to sign up and begin to read for parts in the unusual play.

There were drama students from Belmont High School. Street kids from South-Central, East L.A. and elsewhere. A few junior high-aged Latinos with women who appeared to be their grandmothers. A whole lot of aspiring actors.

And--according to a community worker who works with gangs who attended the casting call in case problems erupted--maybe one or two dozen gang members, but “not the heavies.”

The writer-producer-director-promoter of “Gangs II” is Harry Bey, a powerfully built man with a booming voice whose enthusiasm is unquestioned, but whose vagueness has left local gang community workers puzzled.

Real gang members have acted in several movies in the last decade. And there have been an increasing number of people trying innovative approaches to working with gangs. But Bey doesn’t quite fit in either category.

“Nobody’s going to say we don’t support anything that tries to stop gang murders,” said one local gang expert. “But we can’t get a fix on this guy. He’s certainly driven. And he seems to be sincere. But nobody knows him, where he’s from . . . or anything.”

Bey said he grew up in Glendale, and has spent “years living among gangs . . . in Chicago, New York, San Diego” and other places.

“It’s been very hard on me,” he said. “I worked hard (to save money) so I could write my script. I’m an artist, a true artist.”

He first garnered attention in Los Angeles about a year ago when he put on a play called “Gangs,” (Gang Actors Needing Group Support) at a small downtown theater. The plot involves police officers and a priest trying to establish a truce between two warring gangs.

“People think I made a fortune on it,” he said in an interview. “But I think I lost. . . . I’m not doing this for fame, glory and fortune. The bottom line is I want to help end gang violence now, to save lives.”

Movable Performance

“Gangs II,” has the same plot as the first play, but is a far more ambitious production. Bey said he plans to put it on in each of the five county supervisorial districts, with separate casts.

He said the production will be for profit. But he said he expects to plow the profit back into other gang-related projects.

Gang members and others stood next to each other in the rehearsal hall for more than three hours Sunday, listening intently as Bey laid down rigorous rehearsal schedules and strict codes of conduct. They applauded enthusiastically after each reading, with Bey himself playing key roles.

Two young women in black nylon net jersey shirts and jeans, who were pointed out to a reporter by a Community Youth Gang Services worker as real gang members, were among the most enthusiastic.

They said that Bey had almost gotten himself killed Friday night when he was trying to recruit gang members.

“He pulled out a briefcase at this hangout we go to and said he had something for us,” Mary Rosado said. “Then somebody screamed, ‘he’s got a gun.’ I dived under a car. He didn’t have a gun. But if any of the guys with us had, they woulda shot him.”

Luckily, nobody was armed.

Mary and her friend, Juanita Lopez, both 19, said they had been in a gang for several years and had been thinking about trying to get out. Both have had friends injured and killed.

“I want to change my life,” Juanita said. “But you can’t just leave on your own. People’d think you’re maybe joining another gang. But if they see us do this, maybe other people’ll come out too.”

Lawrence Harvey, 24, described himself as a former member of a South-Central Los Angeles gang. He said he is ready to “give it a try.”

Did he think rival gang members could get along in a production together?

“Long as a fool keep his mouth shut and go about his business, things be fine,” he said. “But if they go throwing obscenities, I be throwing fists.”

(Fighting, knives, drugs, guns, swearing, disrespect toward women, and vulgarity are all among grounds for dismissal from Bey’s cast.)

Judging from the crowd, a handful of drama students from Belmont High may have been the only volunteers to meet certain of Bey’s casting quotas.

Among them were a young Chinese man, another who said he was half-Lebanese, and three young women, one who was half-Chinese, one half-American Indian, and one Japanese.

“We’re not gang members,” said Terrance Cheung, 17. “But I guess we’ll make our drama teacher happy.”