This collection of three hip hop plays by Conrad Murray and his Beats & Elements collaborators Paul Cree, David Bonnick Junior and Lakeisha Lynch-Stevens, is the first publication of the critically acclaimed theatre-maker's work. The three plays use hip hop to highlight the inequalities produced by the UK's class system, and weave lyricism, musicality and dialogue to offer authentic accounts of inner-city life written by working-class Londoners.
The plays are accompanied by two introductory essays: The first gives a specific social and historical context that helps readers make sense of the plays, the second positions hip hop as a contemporary literary form and offers some ways to read hip hop texts as literature. The collection also includes a foreword by leading hip hop theatre practitioner Jonzi D, interviews with the Beats & Elements company, and a glossary of words for students and international readers.
Arvustused
A show with something to say, and a stylish way of saying it. * The Stage (on High Rise Estate of Mind) * If there were thousands more like Murray who managed to breakthrough from a working class background to the mainstream Arts, the landscape would be very different to what it is today. * Breaking the Fourth Wall * Its dramatic authenticity is pitch perfect. * Exeunt *
Muu info
The first publication of play texts by Conrad Murray and his collaborators in the Beats & Elements theatre company complete with supplementary essays, interviews and a glossary.
| Shout Outs |
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vi | |
| Foreword |
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viii | |
| Author Biographies |
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xi | |
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1 | (2) |
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Beats & Elements: Class and Hip Hop Theatre |
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3 | (8) |
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11 | (6) |
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No Milk for the Foxes by Paul Cree and Conrad Murray |
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17 | (28) |
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DenMarked by Conrad Murray |
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45 | (34) |
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High Rise eState of Mind'by David Bonnick Jr, Paul Cree, Lakeisha Lynch-Stevens and Conrad Murray |
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79 | (52) |
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Reflections: An Interview with Beats & Elements |
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131 | (12) |
| Glossary |
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143 | |
Conrad Murray is an artist, performer, beatboxer and rapper from Mitcham, South West London. He is a qualified and experienced secondary school teacher, the artistic director of the Battersea Arts Centres Beatbox Academy, co-artistic director of the hip hop theatre company Beats and Elements and associate artist at BAC. His shows include No Milk for the Foxes (Camden Peoples Theatre 2015); DenMarked (BAC 2016); Frankenstein (BAC 2018); High Rise eState of Mind (BAC/CPT 2019). He is currently musical director and composer on Crongton Knights (Pilot Theatre), director on Pied Piper: Silent City (BAC), and composer and musical director for Mrs Noah (Headlong); he is also working with the BBC on a screen adaptation of Frankenstein to be screened on BBC4 in March 2020. He was awarded the Off West End and Total Theatre Awards for Frankenstein.
