Artist Spotlight: Q Brothers
For almost two decades, the Q Brothers have been pioneering hip-hop theater with their “ad-rap-tations” of classic plays. They’ve put their unique spin on iconic Shakespeare works from “Othello” to “Romeo and Juliet”, and they’ve created a special show just for Bear Music Fest!
What are you performing at BMF? Q Gents!
“['Q Gents' is] an adaptation of ‘Two Gentlemen of Verona’, and we’ve created pockets of improv throughout the show so we can feed off the energy of the crowd and keep the flow of energy streaming both ways. It’s really fun, too! This adaptation takes place in high school and makes fun of all the 80s high school movies that we grew up on–all the John Hughes movies, things like that, so it has a lot of throwback 80s humor and really draws people in.”
On Shakespeare and hip-hop:
“If Shakespeare were alive today, he’d be a rapper. I don’t see what else he’d be doing. He’s a brilliant storyteller who tells stories through poetry, and that’s what the best rappers do. I think they're both telling stories rhythmically, too - iambic pentameter was the hot rhythm of the day.
On ‘The Hamilton Effect’:
“Bringing verse back to the mainstream has been nothing but good for theater. It has shifted public perception to allow people to realize just how accessible hip-hop is to them, and there’s a lot less fear going into a show that has elements of hip-hop in it.”
On what excites Q Brothers about BMF:
“I love that the intention of the festival isn’t getting a maximum amount of people, it’s maximizing an experience. There’s magic in that. You move through the day and follow the flow of programming the way it’s been curated. I think people will go and hang at a stage and watch it from beginning to end 'cause they're not feeling like they're missing something else. The format of this festival could serve really well the type of art that we do. In that way it could be a breakthrough for other kinds of media [at festivals]."
