Anagrams:
In both Jason Reynolds' novel and in this new musical adaptation, our protagonist, Will, uses anagrams as a way to establish a sense of order to his emotions and the world around him.
In the book, the anagrams are:
SCARE=CARES
CANOE=OCEAN(Will’s example)
ALIVE = A VEIL
FEEL = FLEE
COOL = LOCO
CINEMA = ICEMAN
“I wish I knew an anagram for POSER”
In the musical, the anagrams are:
EVIL=LIVE
LIVE=VILE
Will tries to make an anagram out of Shawn's name when he is killed ("SHAWN IS DEAD")
Will also tries to make an anagram out of SNITCHES
KARMA= A MARK
Ghosts:
From Jason Reynolds on the use of ghosts in the novel:
"What I wanted to do in telling a tale about gun violence is not create one-dimensional characters that fall into cliches, and so I think what we can do with devices, like using ghosts of the past, is we can create a space where the writer, the author — quote-unquote me — doesn't have to teach a lesson. Instead, it's about us, a community, thinking about those of our family members and our friends who we've already lost to this thing, and allow their haunting to be the thing that creates our psyche and our conscience."
In the musical, the ghosts function similarly in some ways to a Greek Chorus. As an ensemble, they emphasize the themes of the story and their messages to Will, in particular the three rules.
An interesting article by James Padilioni, a professor and researcher on African Diasporic ritual and performative cultures, about time in African folklore and how it relates to ghosts, voodoo, and spirits: https://www.aaihs.org/blackness-a-haunted-history/
Rules: The three rules that Reynolds establishes in the novel and continue to be instrumental in the musical are crucial to readers' and audience members' understanding of the story and the world of the piece.
1) Don't cry.
2) Don't snitch.
3) Revenge.