CST Insider - March 2013

Othello: The Remix Comes Home

Chicago Shakespeare Theater serves as a home for audiences to explore and enjoy Shakespeare—and combining our creative capital with the spirited innovation of artists like The Q Brothers yields work that transcends age and culture. Following an acclaimed world premiere in London at Shakespeare’s Globe and wildly successful tours to Germany and Edinburgh, Othello: The Remix finally made its American premiere earlier this month in the theater Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare, where it is currently playing through April 28.

The triumphant homecoming has been greeted with tremendous acclaim from audiences and critics alike. The Chicago Sun-Times’ highly recommended review raves, “this lightening-fast, hip-hop version of Shakespeare's tragic tale is absolutely brilliant and immense fun!” New City summed up the audience experience brilliantly, stating: “The newest, liveliest music can absolutely activate theatrical storytelling if the actors own the words they express and style they emanate. Those factors are impressively evident. The joyous cheers with which the audience responds to the abundantly clever wordplay is probably rather akin to an Elizabethan audience’s response to Shakespeare’s own verbiage.”

Othello: The Remix is part of CST’s ongoing collaboration with renowned Chicago hip-hop artists, The Q Brothers. Created in collaboration with CST Creative Producer Rick Boynton, it exemplifies our steadfast commitment to explore how Shakespeare speaks directly to modern audiences. This high-octane, urban interpretation imagines the Bard’s tragedy in the fierce, frenzied world of the rap music industry—the infamous Moor now “MC Othello” and jealous Iago, a disgruntled member of his crew. Audience members might be surprised to see how fluidly Shakespearean comedy and tragedy translate into the modern-day vernacular of hip-hop. 

Pictured: GQ and Postell Pringle in Othello: The Remix. Photo by Michael Brosilow