Watch Shakespeare Get A Hip Hop Makeover At Literature Live

Shakespeare was rhyming about gang wars centuries before the likes of NWA, which makes him, if you will excuse the pun, bit of a bardass. British rapper Akala saw the commonalities between Shakespeare and contemporary hip hop and formed the London-based Hip Hop Shakespeare Company, whose youth-oriented musical theatre programmes and concerts help educate participants about and expand the audience for the works of the man that many believe to be the greatest writer of all time. You can see just how they do it by heading to the National Centre for the Performing Arts’ Tata Theatre this Thursday, November 1 at 7.30pm when The Hip Hop Shakespeare Company will perform as part of Literature Live!.

Akala and his band will present a medley of songs based on and inspired by “themes, scenes, quotes and ideas” from Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets. Listen out for “Othello Prologue”, “Sonnet 18” and “Comedy, Tragedy, History” (in which Akala namechecks 27 of Shakespeare’s plays). As for Akala’s solo work, you have two chances to catch him this weekend: he has a spot at The Other Stage at the Bacardi NH7 Weekender festival on Saturday, November 2, while you can hear more about and from him on the second episode of the second season of The Dewarists on Sunday, November 4, at 8pm on Star World, where he will collaborate, in the Andamans, with Hindi film lyricist Piyush Mishra to create a new track. Other collabs to watch out for on this season of the travel-oriented music show include those between Shaa’ir + Func and Tamil folk-fusion band La Pongal in Chennai; Thermal and a Quarter, flautist Ashwin Srinivasan and Adil & Vasundhara in Bangalore; Dualist Inquiry and Advaita in Delhi; and Asian Dub Foundation and Akhu (the erstwhile Imphal Talkies) in Imphal.

NCPA Tata Theatre

LocationNational Centre for the Performing Arts
NCPA Marg
Nariman Point

Phone022 2282 4567

Relevant DatesThursday, November 1

Hours7.30pm

Ticketing & Price InfoFree

Websitewww.litlive.in