The Hip Hop Shakespeare

THSC is is a workshop and theatre production company formed by MOBO-award winning British hip-hop artist Akala. We look to educate and engage young people in both schools and youth organisations who are considered ‘hard to reach’ and who may not ordinarily be interested in Shakespeare and his work by demonstrating how modern hip-hop shares many similarities with the themes, language and rhythm used by The Bard. We build young people’s self-confidence and unlock their creative and artistic abilities by having them write and perform their own rap lyrics based on a theme from one of Shakespeare’s plays, giving them a platform to showcase their creative ideas and works, and with guidance from leading industry professionals. Through our workshops we encourage disengaged young people to develop new skills in performing arts by getting them excited about words and rhyming, and thus gain a positive experience of Shakespeare, literature and the arts. Akala quotes: “After rapping about Shakespeare in some of my songs I developed the moniker “the Rap Shakespearean” among the press and my fans. In 2008 I decided to look for ways to spread my own love of Shakespeare to other young people in a more structured manner.” The workshops are aimed at (but not limited to!) young people aged 13-19 years old in both schools and youth clubs who are considered ‘hard to reach’ in traditional educational or artistic activities and those who are not in education, employment or training. Our main objective is to create social cohesion between young people from varying social/economic backgrounds to be creative through the use of all art forms.