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Hip Hop Theatre

Hip hop theatre is a genre that emerged in the 1990s and blends hip hop aesthetics and sociopolitical content. Dive in with this conversation between Clyde Valentin and Will Power on hip hop culture, or Kamilah Forbes’ essay on the Hip-Hop Theatre Festival, which has the mission of “present[ing] live, professionally executed theater written by, and about the Hip-Hop generation.”

The Latest

Shakespeare Against the Canon in Our Verse in Time to Come
Essay
Shakespeare Against the Canon in Our Verse in Time to Come
by Melissa Lin Sturges, Karen Ann Daniels, Malik Work, John Ray Proctor III
22 August 2023
Writing Detroit: Dominique Morisseau’s Practice of the Possible
Podcast
Writing Detroit: Dominique Morisseau’s Practice of the Possible
by Jordan Ealey, Leticia Ridley, Dominique Morisseau
10 August 2022
Imagining a Way Forward
Essay
Imagining a Way Forward
Discussions on Theatre and Race
by Kamilah Forbes, P. Carl, Wes Jackson
30 March 2021
A tall Black man performs passionately while surrounded by audience members.
Shakespeare Against the Canon in Our Verse in Time to Come
Essay

Shakespeare Against the Canon in Our Verse in Time to Come

22 August 2023

Karen Ann Daniels, Malik Work, and John “Ray” Proctor sit down with Melissa Lin Sturges to discuss their work on Our Verse in Time to Come, a Folger Theatre production that used Shakespeare as a jumping off point to become a testament to “the other bards”—the ones still living and the ones still to come.

Daughters of Lorraine Podcast teaser.
Writing Detroit: Dominique Morisseau’s Practice of the Possible
Podcast

Writing Detroit: Dominique Morisseau’s Practice of the Possible

10 August 2022

Jordan Ealey and Leticia Ridley interview award-winning and acclaimed playwright Dominique Morisseau about her recent Broadway productions of Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations and Skeleton Crew; the future of Detroit theatre and performance; and reckoning with American history. Ealey and Ridley discuss Morisseau’s practice of reparative creativity and the ability for theatre to serve as a rehearsal for true change.

Kamilah Forbes portrait.
Imagining a Way Forward
Essay

Imagining a Way Forward

Discussions on Theatre and Race

30 March 2021

Kamilah Forbes, artistic director of the Apollo Theater, speaks with Wes Jackson and P. Carl about the American theatre being a very slow-moving ship, genre-crossing for artists and organizations, systemic racism in the field, and more.

Aaliyah in Underland promotion.
Aaliyah in Underland (Virtual Reading)
University of Puget Sound logo.
University of Puget Sound
Video

Aaliyah in Underland (Virtual Reading)

A Hip Hop remix of Alice in Wonderland that explores the concepts of structural violence, anti-blackness, memory, and self-discovery.

Friday 8 May 2020
Takoma, Washington, USA

The University of Puget Sound’s Projects in Dramaturgy: “Politics & Praxis of Rememory” class presented the virtual reading of Aaliyah in Underland by Wind Dell Woods on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 8 May 2020 at 12 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC-7) / 2 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC-5) / 3 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC-4) / 20:00 BST (London, UTC+1) / 21:00 CEST (Berlin, UTC+2).

two actors onstage in costume
At the Core of Theatre for Young Audiences is Voicing Identity, Intersectionality, and Empathy
Essay

At the Core of Theatre for Young Audiences is Voicing Identity, Intersectionality, and Empathy

20 March 2019

Kim Peter Kovac looks at the way the theatre for young audiences field has changed over the last few years, where it’s at today, and what his hopes are for the future.

Theatre History Podcast #50
Podcast

Theatre History Podcast #50

Opening Up New Approaches to Acting with Dr. Sharrell D. Luckett

14 November 2017

Dr. Sharrell Luckett joins us to discuss her new book Black Acting Methods: Critical Approaches.

Ordinary Magic
Essay

Ordinary Magic

Where Hip-Hop Theatre Meets Opera

27 July 2017

Maelsha Taylor talks with Ise Lyfe and Gill Sotu about their spoken-word opera Ordinary Magic. 

Vietgone, Hamilton, and the Decolonization of American Theatre
Essay

Vietgone, Hamilton, and the Decolonization of American Theatre

15 March 2017

Arlene Martínez-Vázquez looks at how colonization impacts her view of Hamilton and Vietgone.

Interview with Shaun Neblett, Playwright and Founder of Changing Perceptions Theater
Essay

Interview with Shaun Neblett, Playwright and Founder of Changing Perceptions Theater

15 June 2016

Amy Brady interviews Shaun Neblett about hip-hop inspired theatre, Black Lives Matter, and getting young audiences excited about theatre.

From Page to Stage
Essay

From Page to Stage

Teaching Slam Poetry in the High School Classroom

7 March 2016

Jasminne Méndez writes about being a teaching artist with the Alley Theatre and introducing student to spoken word poetry.

Complex Movements’ Beware of the Dandelions
Essay

Complex Movements’ Beware of the Dandelions

19 November 2015

Jeff Chang on Detroit-based Complex Movements’ Beware of the Dandelions, a narrative, concert, visual installation, architectural piece, and convening space to distribute revolutionary ideas and activate creative ecosystems and economies of change. 

Hip-Hop Theatre Explosion Curated and Emceed by Zell Miller III
The VORTEX
Video

Hip-Hop Theatre Explosion Curated and Emceed by Zell Miller III

Friday 6 November 2015
Austin, TX, United States

The VORTEX in Austin, Texas presented Hip-Hop Theatre Explosion livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Friday 6 November at 8 p.m. CST (Austin) / 6 p.m. PST (San Francisco) / 9 p.m. EST (Washington, DC). In Twitter, use #howlround and follow @HowlRoundTV.

Hands Up Hoodies Down by Zell Miller III and Chelsea Manasseri
The VORTEX
Video

Hands Up Hoodies Down by Zell Miller III and Chelsea Manasseri

Saturday 19 September 2015
Austin, TX, United States

 

The VORTEX in Austin, Texas presented Hands Up Hoodies Down—the return of this critically-acclaimed hip hop theatre and dance piece for our times—livestreamed on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Saturday 19 September at 8 p.m. CDT (Austin) / 6 p.m. PDT (San Francisco) / 9 p.m. EDT (New York). 

Respecting Hip Hop in Rising Youth Theatre’s production of antonia
Essay

Respecting Hip Hop in Rising Youth Theatre’s production of antonia

a latina hip-hop Antigone

7 September 2015

Playwright José Casas discusses Rising Youth Theatre’s process for incorporating hip-hop in its upcoming project for theatre for young audiences.

A Call for Solidarity: A Real-Time Networked Performance Linking Hawaii, Alaska, and NYC
CultureHub Logo
CultureHub
Video

A Call for Solidarity: A Real-Time Networked Performance Linking Hawaii, Alaska, and NYC

Wednesday 15 April 2015
Alaska, Hawaii, & New York City; United States

A Call for Solidarity—a real-time networked performance linking Hawaii, Alaska, and New York City—livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Wednesday 15 April at 8 p.m. EDT (New York) / 7 p.m. CDT (Chicago) / 5 p.m. PDT (Los Angeles) / 4 p.m. AKDT (Alaska) / 2 p.m. HAST (Hawaii).

Hamilton
Essay

Hamilton

Five Ways Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hip-Hopped History Musical Breaks New Ground

5 March 2015

There is a sense that this piece somehow transcends theatre even as it embodies it—or, as Hamilton puts it: “This is not a moment, it’s a movement.”

Photo from How We Got On.
Forum Theatre’s How We Got On
Essay

Forum Theatre’s How We Got On

9 December 2014

Though set in 1988, the play’s insistence on the power of words, creativity, and voice as a means of self-assertion, growth, and transformation is of timeless importance and is especially relevant now.

Where Broadway At?
Essay

Where Broadway At?

Meditations On the Closing of the Tupac Musical.

23 July 2014

Idris Goodwin investigates the potential financial and critical success of Hip-Hop-oriented theatre.

Hip Hop Culture Conversation with Clyde Valentin & Will Power at Double Edge Theatre
Double Edge Theatre
Video

Hip Hop Culture Conversation with Clyde Valentin & Will Power at Double Edge Theatre

Sunday 16 March 2014
Ashfield, MA, United States

Double Edge Theatre in Ashfield, Massachusetts presents The Power of Hip Hop Culture: A Conversation with Clyde Valentin and Will Power livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Sunday 16 March at 8 a.m. PDT/ 10 a.m. CDT/ 11 a.m. EDT/ 15:00 GMT. In Twitter, use #howlround.

Holiday Hip-Hop Theatre Explosion at The VORTEX
The VORTEX
Video

Holiday Hip-Hop Theatre Explosion at The VORTEX

Saturday 21 December 2013
Austin, TX, United States

The VORTEX in Austin, Texas presented The Holiday Hip-Hop Theatre Explosion livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Saturday 21 December 2013 at 6 p.m. CDT (San Francisco)/ 8 p.m. CST (Austin)/ 9 p.m. EST (New York). Use Twitter hashtag #howlround & direct comments @VORTEXonManor.

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Donnie Welch's Leaving Dynamite Workshop Performance
Video

Donnie Welch's Leaving Dynamite Workshop Performance

Saturday 10 August 2013
New Orleans, LA, United States

Slam poet Donnie Welch presented a workshop performance of Leaving Dynamite livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Saturday 10 August 2013 at 5 p.m. PDT (San Francisco) / 7 p.m. CDT (New Orleans) / 8 p.m. EDT (New York). Expected run time: 45 minutes. 

All the Hip-Hop World’s a Stage, and the Critic Is a Player
Essay

All the Hip-Hop World’s a Stage, and the Critic Is a Player

4 April 2013

Rebecca Haithcoat draws parallels between Hip-hop and theatre and why the public finds hip-hop more accessible

Poster for Total Chaos.
Ciphers, Freestyles, and Posse Cuts
Essay

Ciphers, Freestyles, and Posse Cuts

The Parallels of Ensemble/Devised Theatre and Hip-Hop

20 October 2012

Clyde Valentin explores the similarities between hip-hop and devised theatre, and what large-scale theatre companies can learn from hip-hop's culture.

A logo for the Hip Hop Theatre Festival.
Hip-Hop Theater Festival
Essay

Hip-Hop Theater Festival

Making Space in Harlem

29 June 2012

The mission is to bring stories by and about the hiphop generation. Now Hip-hop Theatre Festival is finished with the nomadic lifestyle and have a space to call our own.

 

Harlem Lab on My Mind
Essay

Harlem Lab on My Mind

26 June 2012

After connecting the top rap albums to playwriting, it is time to look at how Harlem is theatre.