Othello: The Remix by Minneapolis Musical Theatre

 

Minneapolis Musical Theater company is showing Othello: The Remix through May 7th at the Phoenix Theater in uptown. You should check this show out; it’s a fun night of theatre. 

It’s a hip hop musical retelling of Shakespeare’s Othello book and lyrics by the Q brothers with Rick Boynton. Commissioned by Shakespeare’s Globe Theater in 2012, this 90 minute version sees Othello running a hip hop crew on tour. Iago is still jealous, Cassio’s still oblivious, and Desdemona is a diva offstage in a recording booth. But four actors play the whole cast and they’re backed, live, by DJ Huh?Whatt?? while they rap and sing their way through the score. For more, you can listen to the Q Brother’s talk to Folger’s Shakespeare about it at this link.

Local writer and artistic director of Threshold Theater, Denzel Belin, directs this production, and weaves narrative and design threads with a strong hand. The rhythms of build in the story are well handled, towards the climax and the final number, lending impact but not neglecting the poignant comedy in the lyrics. His work especially shines during the shifts between characters and scenes, and using the stage and scene elements to build visual focus and texture. Performers pop up from behind the sofa with a new character and a punchline, or they handily shift into storytellers with a smooth removal of a costume prop. I was a little distracted by the choice to give performers a book and feather quill to write with while they weren’t actively in a scene, but it did signal an observer position.

Belin also designed the storyteller grey coveralls costumes and character costume pieces that differentiated performed roles. While they didn’t look super comfortable, the uniform nature did make the storytelling backdrop a clear background and made the character pieces pop. Each character had a distinct piece: fingerless gloves, capelet, ball-cap, backpack glasses, blazer. The most interesting piece was Othello’s shades, lenses over his glasses that he flipped down during the murder. The effect was really lovely, and the dark lenses didn’t shadow his face at all otherwise.

All four performers handled the lyrics well; there’s a lot of text and it moves quickly. The singing is sometimes a little pitchy, but when they’re singing in chorus, the performers are strong. And they excel with both the characters and the storyteller frame, which resurfaces to help move the plot along.

Umar Malik’s Othello is solid, holding space and concerned with his record, tour, and marriage. His moment at the end of the show of addressing each character is particularly enjoyable. Overall, Malik’s performance provides a clear foil that makes Iago look like the asshole, which is great because, Alex Church’s Iago is an asshole. Church brings the self assured vibes of someone wrong who believes he’s the smartest in the room. His performance of the final Act 1 song, puppet master, was totally villainous.  Church’s back and forth with Miles Scroggins’ Emilia was delightful as well. 

Scroggins is the softest presence in the show which suits Cassio’s candy-rap youthfulness. His Cassio is delightfully oblivious and cares so much about the music.  Rounding out the cast is Alaster Xan-Elias, building four very distinct characters: Roderigo, Bianca, Loco Vito, and a Radio DJ. Every character gets a different vocal inflection and a lot of energy. Xan-Elias shines in both accent work and joke delivery, charmingly throwing off one-liners, and killing it with seriousness in Roderigo’s big song “It’s Enough to Make this Wise Wizard Cry.”

The actors are mic’d and DJ Huh?What?? runs the beat tracks and music. He held down the stage and the beats, moving the score along from pre-show through intermission all the way to the end. I wish they would have put DJ Huh?What?? in a more prominent location so we could watch him work. The support in the booth was a little behind in mixing, and once in a while brought an actor's mic up late; the actor’s mics also weren’t always quite loud enough to hear, so if you’re hard of hearing, sit closer up.

Vicky Erickson's scenery is generally a treat, both the brick walls upstage and the side walls have texture, color, and movement. The Stage Right seating area has some fun Shakespearian easter eggs, though, they don’t add much to the narrative. Both the Couch and the lighting case that are used as seating are mobile and Belin uses them to solid effect–both moving to create room, using the levels they offer and even turning the lighting case into a rotating stage for a couple of songs. The recording studio door labeled with a huge Desdemona graffiti tag indicates clearly that the female lead exists as a convention in the script and gives lighting designer Grand E. Merges a lot of play with the lighting design by way of a window. 

Honestly, Merges’ lighting kicks ass. The lighting was engaging and colorful in ways that heightened the narrative moments. Of particular note is a cue that lights an imaginary drug/potion bottle with bright color just in Iago’s hands. The galaxy effect on Desdemona’s window, and the fade from color for the storyteller moments is also a really clear shift and that puts strong focus on the frame.

Maia Maiden's choreography is simple but effective. She did double duty with music direction, and the choreo supports the lyrics without distracting.

Content Heads-Ups: strobe lights, symbolic violence, sexual content, mature language

If you want to check out the music ahead of time or after, you can find the Othello: The Remix album on bandcamp. 

You should see this if: You like Shakespeare, you like hip hop, you are a huge nerd, or you’re just looking for a fun night of theatre. Seriously, go see this. It’s a fun time. 

3.5/5 Scones

Reviewed by Cheddar & Chive