Gregory Qaiyum and Jeffrey Qaiyum, aka GQ and JQ, have been around for years now. I recall watching their breakout “add-rap-tation,” called “The Bomb-itty of Errors,” in 1999, which is before some members of the cast of their latest, “Rome Sweet Rome,” were even born.
The previous leadership at Chicago Shakespeare Theater had a big commitment to the Chicago-raised pair, once pretty big hometown celebrities, seeing in their work a way to introduce the Bard to a new, younger audience. So in 2008, “Funk It Up About Nothin’” came along, then in 2013, “Othello: The Remix.” That’s not a complete list: The Q Brothers also have (among others) “Dress The Part,” a reimagining of “Two Gentlemen of Verona,” “I Heart Juliet” (one of the few I haven’t seen) and “ms. estrada,” a hip hop adaptation of Aristophanes’ play “Lysistrata.”
So, they have their shtick down by now.
Over time, it’s worth noting, the Q Brothers morphed into the Q Brothers Collective, adding their frequent collaborators JAX (Jackson Doran) and POS (Postell Pringle), both of whom are in the cast of “Rome Sweet Rome,” an adaptation of “Julius Caesar.” And the list of creatives has expanded yet further this time, with Chicago Shakespeare artistic director Edward Hall and Ericka Ratcliff, a well-known Chicago artist, added to the list. Also, “Rome Sweet Rome” is staged on CST’s mainstage and is a much bigger show.
The Qs are still young gentlemen, but it’s probably the right time to note how much they have done for popularizing hip hop theater. After all, “The Bomb-itty of Errors” came almost two decades before “Hamilton,” a show that used American history and original music, rather than Shakespeare and riffs from a DJ, but nonetheless had a formative relationship with the latter. And, like Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Qs always focused on what Stephen Sondheim called “generous music,” a phrase I’m using here to include prose. Sondheim was referencing a commitment to inclusion: you don’t need to love hip hop or rap to enjoy “Hamilton,” which has many other influences, and the same is true of “Rome Sweet Rome,” wherein JQ performs as part of a cast of 10. The credit for direction is to the collective.
So. Simply put, “Rome Sweet Home” is a very enjoyable and accessible 90 minutes. Amusingly named characters include Cash (Jonathan Shaboo), Purney (Bri Sudia), C-Pimp (Maya Vinice Prentiss) and Tre Bone (JAX, as Caesar’s head of security). Caesar (POS) is described as “a populist leader with authoritarian tendencies who bans bread and loves attention,” so you can make your own allegorical assumptions, but they mercifully don’t hit you over the head.
Same goes for Caesar’s antagonist, being that she’s a progressive politician calling for a Green New Rome, with early retirement for all.
That said, “Rome Sweet Rome” skewers extremists in a notably even-handed way: “Rome, hold up — can we pause and reflect? / I hear the rage on all sides, and I get why you’re upset / This fingerpointing stems from our own fear and shame / Let’s have a discussion instead of smearing blame.”
All in all, it’s a very fun and clever adaptation (the cool set by Collette Pollard has lots of old-school amps) that requires no knowledge whatsoever of the source play to be enjoyed, although the fun rises if you get some of what they did to the original, which always has been a play about leadership, dictators, governance by an elite and the rise of populism.
“Rome Sweet Rome” is my favorite of all the Q shows listed above: the lyrical jokes are actually funny, the atmosphere is warm, the staging sharp and there’s a bright kind of wit to the whole shebang, which knows not to outstayeth its welcome, praise Caesar. There’s also a strikingly melodic musicality to the new show, enhanced by the presence of the likes of Broadway’s Sudia (the show acknowledges Public Enemy, Notorious B.I.G., Snoop Dogg and LL Cool J as influences, among others) and a few other genuine singers.
All in all, it’s kind of a blast:
“It’s ROME, where liberty’s on lock
And you’re gonna be free if you like it or not
You’re lucky, cuz you get to have voices
At election time, you get TWO WHOLE CHOICES!”
Yup. Nailed it, Brothers Q.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
cjones5@chicagotribune.com
Review: “Rome Sweet Rome” (3.5 stars)
When: Through Oct. 19
Where: Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier
Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Tickets: $55-$95 at 312-595-5600 and chicagoshakes.com
