If Shakespeare were alive today, he’d be kickin’ it with Eminem – but he’s long dead now, which means he must be hanging with Biggie Smalls and Tupac.
If Shakespeare were alive today, he’d be kickin’ it with Eminem – but he’s long dead now, which means he must be hanging with Biggie Smalls and Tupac. That’s what emcees and beat-making bros Jeffrey and Gregory Qaiyum reckon, claiming that Shakespeare was actually a brilliant emcee himself.
“It’s weird because all of the same devices and wordplay they used in Shakespeare are basically the same stuff that the best rappers right now are using,” insists Jeffrey. “We believe if Shakespeare was actually still around today, rap would be his art form and he’d be using hip-hop to do it. Another reason we decided to mix it up a bit and use rap is because of the language barrier. I think the language part of Shakespeare definitely does turn people off, especially the younger kids who aren’t familiar with the works too much. They usually have a hard time reading Shakespeare and have some difficulties with the language. It doesn’t mean the content is not interesting, it just means that it’s harder to read. It sounds very archaic and almost useless and I know because I felt that way when I read Shakespeare growing up.”
They’ve certainly got the right idea if the Qaiyum brothers’ new theatrical ad-rap-tation of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing is anything to go by. Direct form the Tony Award winning Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Funk It Up About Nothin’ swaps yee olde English for modern-day rap while maintaining the overall plot of the classic play.
“We weren’t too concerned about changing it up,” claims Gregory. “We’re not purists by any means and we’re certainly not afraid to mess with something classical! It’s fuel for the fire for us in terms of motivation, especially since we’ve had so much fun doing it. I honestly can’t imagine Shakespeare being offended or pissed off by what we’ve done to his work. If anything, we’ve made it more accessible, which is probably a form of promotion. This isn’t the first time that we’ve done something like this either, so we knew that it would work. About 12 years ago we did The Bomb-itty Of Errors, which was a version of Shakespeare’s Comedy Of Errors. That’s been so successful that it’s still traveling and being performed around the world. In fact, I think the show is currently running in Milwaukee [U.S.].”
Over the last decade, the Qaiyum brothers’ career hasn’t been strictly limited to theatre work, however. Since The Bomb-itty Of Errors, the Chicago-based duo have collaborated on their own hip-hop sketch comedy TV show Scratch And Burn, and have lent their talents to projects ranging from film compositions to hip-hop albums.
“Working with your brother is the easiest thing in the world because we’ve been ‘collaborating’ since we were kids!” points out Jeffrey. “There’s no holds barred, there’s nothing you can’t say to each other. I think we both agree that the theatre has gotten us by more so than the music in financial terms. The theatre is money in the pocket but music feeds the soul. Being able to do a combination of both is amazing. We also run some workshops as part of the Lollapalooza Festival over in the ‘States, so we teach kids beatboxing and rapping. We teach them the importance of staying original and being yourself, because it’s the only way to eliminate competition, if you think about it. The next thing we’ve got happening is Mad Summer Night’s Dream, which is another Shakespeare adaptation and we’ve got about six movie scripts that we’re considering at the moment. We are also extremely interested in bird-watching and horticulture.”
FUNK IT UP ABOUT NOTHIN’ is touring the country and hits the Drum Theatre, Dandenong, playing all week until Saturday April 2. Check out drumtheatre.com.au for more information.
