'Ad-rap-tation' adds plenty of funk to Bard's 'Much Ado'
Chicago Shakespeare Theater plays it straight with its namesake's plays. Under artistic director Barbara Gaines, productions at CST, winner of the 2008 Regional Theatre Tony Award, tend toward the reverent and refined. Irreverence falls to guest artists like the Chicago-born Q Brothers, siblings Gregory (GQ) and Jeffrey (JQ) Qaiyum, whose latest "ad-rap-tation" is the def, deftly imagined "Funk It Up About Nothin,'" a hip-hop version of Shakespeare's delightful "Much Ado About Nothing."
Though inspired by Shakespeare, "Funk It Up" stands on its own considerable merits.
Adapted and directed by The Brothers Q, whose highly successful "The Bomb-itty of Errors" (inspired by "The Comedy of Errors") played Chicago's Royal George Theatre in 2001, "Funk It Up" is a witty, exuberant bit of theater. Like the original, this sly re-imagining - in its world premiere at CST's upstairs theater - revels in wordplay, innuendo and bawdy puns that reference "cunning linguists" and a device dubbed the "Richard III" that runs on Double-A batteries.
"Much Ado" purists will likely find First Folio Shakespeare Festival's more traditional production opening Friday at Oak Brook's Mayslake Peabody Estate more to their liking. But for adventurous Shakespeare fans, or young adults raised on hip hop, "Funk It Up" is a bright, brisk and wholly original alternative that unfolds on Brian Sidney Bembridge's paint-splattered, neon-colored streetscape. The Q's nimble adaptation quotes old school R&B by Chicago's own Chi-Lites and the theme from "Shaft" and references LL Cool J along with Shakespeare's "R&J" to tell the well-loved, oft-staged comedy. The story centers on loquacious, would-be lovers Beatrice, known here as MC Lady B (the sassy, rightly confident Ericka Ratcliff), and Benedick (JQ), and their less glib counterparts Hero (the fine Elizabeth Ledo) and Claudio (Jackson Doran).
The play opens with the triumphant return of Don Pedro's (Postell Pringle) award-winning hip-hop crew to the home of Leonato (GQ), father of Hero and uncle to Lady B, a rapper whose skills rival Pedro's premier MC, Benedick. While B&B spar and H&C flirt, Don Pedro's embittered brother John (GQ, who also plays Constable Dingleberry, a redneck rapper in the Kid Rock tradition) plays the rather benign villain who tries to "funk things up" for everyone else.
DJ Adrienne Sanchez's smooth groove overture gives way to more infectious, insistent beats over the course of the 70-minute production.
Those unfamiliar with hip-hop patois will find the language poses as great a challenge as the Bard's blank verse. What's more, it requires just as much attention, and not just from the audience. The enterprising Q Brothers demand of their fluent, young cast the kind of verbal dexterity that classical theater demands. Every one of them proves up to the challenge.
"Funk It Up About Nothin'"
3½ stars(out of 4)
Location: Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Navy Pier, 800 E. Grand Ave., Chicago
Times: 7 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays; 7 and 9:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 2:30 p.m. Sundays, through Aug. 3
Running time: About 70 minutes, no intermission
Tickets: $25, $30
Parking: $11.40 in the Navy Pier garage with validation
Box office: (312) 595-5600 or chicagoshakes.com
Rating: For teens and older
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