Well I must say Thank You again to Miss J for suggesting the play for an outing and picking up the tickets. I live in Chicago and had no clue there was a Shakespeare theater (or any theater at all) at Navy Pier. Now let's get to the play. This is definitely not the Shakespeare we studied in school. Most of the dialogue was in the form of rap accompanied by a deejay spinning lots of hip-hop beats, and there was plenty of head bobbing in the audience by those familiar with the genre.
The Q Brothers (pictured above), GQ and JQ are the Creators and Directors of the play. They both play several roles as well. Postell Pringle had dual roles as Don Pedro, lead MC of the rap crew, and flamboyant cop Verges *sings* Diiiiiingle-ber-ay!!!!! You had to be there! MC Lady B aka Beatrice served up much attitude. She was in full on B-Girl mode. Although her costume screamed Yo-Yo circa 1991. Not. Good. They should hire me to restyle her look...
If you're in Chicago, treat yourself to a night out and see Funk It Up About Nothin'. The play runs until February 13, 2011. If you have children, you may want to leave them with a sitter. There was coarse language and more than a few sexual references.
When I got home, the nerd that I am read the entire playbill. I love learning facts about the actors. The Q Brothers are members of the Merz Apothecary dynasty. JQ along with his older brother TQ have a video blog about natural products (link below). How do you go from luxury apothecary to making hip hop versions of Shakespeare plays? I don't know but I like their moxie and can't wait to see their next play.
For more information:
MC Shakes
The Cubicle Chick
Curvatude
Smallflower TV
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