Shakespeare's inspiration in 1603 for the tragedy Othello was a short story by the Italian novelist Giovanni Giraldi. Drag the characters – Othello, Desdemona, Iago and Cassio – into the present and their tale of betrayal, passion, racism and revenge could easily be a reflection of the music industry today, with the iambic pentameter ditched for the 4/4 time rhythm.
At least that's what the Chicago hip-hop outfit Q Brothers – Jeffrey and Gregory Qaiyum – believe. The duo will stage a rap version of the play, titled Othello: The Remix, on Thursday as part of Abu Dhabi Festival. Supported by actors and musicians, the Q Brothers will showcase their spin on the tragedy with original beats.
How did your career in rapping begin?
JQ: We were born in the mid-1970s and grew side by side to hip-hop. We were always looking for the coolest stuff to do and since information didn't flow like it does now with the internet, we copied the styles of people we met, from movies, and imitating the Beastie Boys. We learnt breakdancing moves and exchanged knowledge with other people.
And then married that style of music with Shakespeare?
GQ: I was at the Tisch School of the Arts – New York University – and we were doing a lot of experimental theatre. They encouraged everything from physical acting and voice classes to movement and reading classical texts, which included Shakespeare. In my senior year I did an independent project where I wanted to merge hip-hop and theatre because I was studying it for 40 hours a week and was rapping for 20 hours outside. I got some actor and rapper friends together and decided to adapt Shakespeare because his work is free to use. It was a happy accident and as soon as we started translating it into our own vernacular over hip-hop beats it made complete sense.
Was it a challenge to turn Othello into a hip-hop musical?
GQ: Shakespeare was a master storyteller who used poetry and musical language to tell a story. The best rappers in the world are storytellers who use poetry and musical language to tell a story. We saw this as an entertaining challenge.
What did the process involve?
JQ: We had been working on the theme for many years. We were commissioned by the Shakespeare's Globe theatre in London to create Othello for a festival where they were doing all 37 Shakespeare plays in 37 different languages from different countries. We became the representative of the United States and our language was American hip-hop. It was pretty cool that we could get the Globe to recognise hip-hop as a language in the eyes of the whole world.
Describe your version of Othello.
GQ: The story we tell is the same. The form of the world and the lens through which it is viewed is what we mess with. In the original it's about soldiers going to war but in our Othello, there are rappers going on tour across the US and they have a hip-hop crew. Iago has been with Othello much longer than Cassio and they have been in rap battles together. Othello is going to put out Cassio's album next because he has more crossover pop appeal and is charming. Iago, who thinks Cassio is not a real rapper, feels snubbed. Desdemona is a singer who falls in love with Othello by listening to his mixtape and she gets to sing with him. They get married and tour together against her father's wishes.
How is it representative of the music industry?
JQ: We grew up in a counterculture and so were trying to capture a time when hip-hop went from underground culture to pop culture. So putting it in the context of our musical, one of the reasons Othello makes such a popular album is because hip-hop has now transcended pop music and allows someone like Cassio to become a rapper. Imagine Will Smith as Cassio – The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air – or Jay Z or Ziggy as Othello, and Eminem as Iago. We think it mirrors the trajectory of hip-hop exactly as the industry is now. People understand those archetypes because there are real-life ones.
Tell us about the music in the production?
JQ: People like to say it is a hip-hop version but they don't often know what that means. Our version is completely musical and rhyming. We use extended songs to explore crucial moments and big conflicts throughout the narrative but just like opera, the music never stops. In-between the music gets sparse but the dialogue is rhymed over music as well. It's not going to feel like a rap show. It's more conversational and the tone of the music matches that.
What can the audience in Abu Dhabi expect from your Othello?
GQ: They should expect not to fall asleep – we will be done quickly because we don't like to keep it long.
• Othello: The Remix is at Abu Dhabi Theatre, The Breakwater, on Thursday from 8pm. Tickets cost Dh50 from www.itp.net/tickets or call 02 333 6400
aahmed@thenational.ae