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Inaugural SPKRBOX: Hip Hop Teater Festival brings worldwide hip hop flavor to Norway, starting with New York-area Artists
The United States has seen a surge in recent years of hip hop-related theatrical productions, and that trend is occurring worldwide. Seeking to make their own mark, Norway is hosting an exciting two-city program called SPKRBOX: Hip Hop Teater Festivalen, taking place in Trondheim and the country’s capital of Oslo.
The program consists of several components, including theatrical performances, musical performances and hybrids, such as the brilliant Baba Brinkman/DJ Mr. Simmonds mashup, The Rap Guide To Evolution.
Hear our interview with Baba Brinkman on Episode 54 of The NY Hip Hop Report (6/2/13)
Several artists with New York roots will also be a part of the festival, including actor/poet/playwright Craig “muMs” Grant (perhaps best known for his role as “Poet” on HBO’s Oz), accomplished Broadway/TV actor, writer and poet Darian Dauchan, and a performance produced by New York’s Hip-Hop Theater Festival.
“This is Norways first hip hop theater festival,” explained Festival Director Cici Henriksen. “We are bringing five shows from New York to get inspiration, and my hope is that we will get the hip hop theater scene up and going in Norway!”
Also hailing from the boroughs, festival hosts Zeps and Dama Nilz, both who have graced the e-pages of Birthplace Magazine in the past. New Jersey will also be represented nicely, by festival DJ, DJ Brown 13, from the Turntableizm Show.
“It’s great to be hosting this festival because we get to represent the four elements of hip hop across the world,” said Zeps, an accomplished artist who represents Brooklyn. “I see hip hop theater as a great way to enjoy the culture in another form.”
As we witnessed while covering L’Original in Lyon, France, the international audience is often highly receptive to hip hop music and culture, in all of its elements, in ways that are sometimes taken for granted by the general population in the U.S.
Hip hop theater, both as home and abroad, is an increasingly viable way to keep alive the fundamental building blocks of what has made hip hop music and culture the international phenomenon it is. Through hip hop theater, the best attributes of those who practice the artform are allowed to shine — lyrical expressionism, musical experimentation, emotive performance – and as proud New York hip hop advocates we are eager to both share our talent, and share in discovering, all that events like SPKRBOX have to offer.
Join us on Sunday, February 16, as we speak live on The NY Hip Hop Report with Cici Henriksen, and some of the artists who will be traveling to Norway for SPKRBOX: Hip Hop Teater Festivalen.