Reviews
Seven: A Hip Hop Tragedy of Greek Proportions
February 21, 2006
Oedipus wasn't known for his skills as a rapper, but a new hip hop musical might change that image. "The Seven" is an off-Broadway play that revamps the Greek character’s persona while leading urban music’s invasion of Broadway.
The play begins with the on-stage DJ, Amber Efé, slinging original rhymes. She raps: “And hey, don’t be afraid if you’ve never heard a’ B.I.G. And now don’t be afraid if you ain’t heard a’ Sophocles. ‘Cause we welcome all y’all here to this hip hop Greek tragedy.”
“The Seven” is a truly unconventional play that marks the theatrical return of author-composer Will Power, whose solo "Flow" garnered rave reviews at the 2003 New York City Hip Hop Theater Festival. The new musical is one of New York’s biggest hip hop theatrical productions and is like an ancient Greek tragedy mixed with Crunk. The play may lead a charge that re-invents pop storytelling.
“Hip hop could become one of the big new movements in theatre,” said Robert Marlin of the New York Theatre Workshop. “Things like Def Poetry Jam have laid the groundwork. Our audiences loved ‘Flow,’ and we were really encouraged by that.”
“The Seven” is an urban, contemporary re-telling of “Seven Against Thebes” which follows the battling sons of the cursed King Oedipus (Edwin Lee Gibson) who obtained the crown by killing his father and marrying his mother. His sons, Eteocles (Benton Greene) and Polynices (Jamyl Dobson), fight fate and each other for control of their father’s throne.
The musical is performed entirely in rhyme and features actors combining original and traditional dialogue while the DJ mixes R&B, funk, blues, do-wop and calypso.
The ancient tale is reborn in today’s urban landscape and mixed with hip hop culture. Characters rap, dance, drop words like “bling,” and are backed by a Greek chorus that’s “straight outta Compton”. The production stays true to the plotline of the original “Seven Against Thebes,” emphasizing issues of poverty, race and abuse of power.
“Hip hop has always been about 'flipping it,’” Power said in a statement, “taking something old and making it new.”
Spinning the play’s traditional elements with urban culture, Power shows that the themes are just as poignant today as they were when the tragedy was first produced in 469 B.C. “The Seven” is one of the first significant productions to integrate hip hop with classical theatre, but similar plays have run before. Lee Breuer’s “The Gospel at Colonus,” first played in the 80’s and is a soul-gospel musical about Oedipus as he nears death.
Power co-wrote the music with Justin Ellington and Will Hammond. Bill T. Jones is the choreographer and Jo Bonney directs the production.
“The Seven” plays at the New York Theatre Workshop through March 12. Tickets are regularly $60 and dip to $20 on Sundays. They can be purchased on Telecharge or at the theatre’s box office.
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