On William Shakespeare's presumed birthday, I saw perhaps the most original retelling of one of his plays that I've ever seen.
Othello: The Remix was created by the Q Brothers, who
in 2021 partnered with Theater Latte Da on their "Ghostlight Series" of virtual cabarets for an original series of short music-theater pieces called "
The Rap Pack." Their rap and hip-hop retelling of one of Shakespeare's greatest tragedies (developed with Rick Boynton) traveled the world and went all the way to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London. No one better than Minneapolis Musical Theatre to bring us the area premiere of this ingenious work, the 48th area premiere for this company that specializes in "rare musicals, well done." It's clever and fast and well-cast, and I think the Bard would be pleased to know that his work is still being interpreted and speaks to people living in a much different world than he did (that's really not all that different at heart). Like they say in the show "good storytellers borrow, great ones steal" and the creators of this show stole from the best to make something unique and original.
You can see it at the Phoenix Theater now through May 7 only.
