Posted on 10/15/2009
So there's theatre and there's hip-hop theatre, and that used to be a cause for apprehension for fans of traditional theatre. The lack of exposition and setting could be off-putting from shows featuring a number of poems strung into monologues strung into scripts. But part of the beauty of hip-hop theatre is its ability to plunge you knee-deep in a world dominated by verbal sparring with little explanation as to how you got there, yet still have you at the edge of your seat gripping for stability until the final couplet drops from the poet's lips. If The Word Begins is any indication of how the NYC Hip-Hop Theatre Festival has matured from poets flailing about in actors' terrain to word artists reinventing the stage for their own wildly entertaining purposes, then this year's festival, and next year's and the next, are not to be missed.