Janessa's Adventures Abroad: Hip Hop Othello!!!!

Alright, so today we got up and went to Portobello Market. It was really crowded and hard to walk around but a lot of the vendors had some really cool things. I bought a jam and cream doughnut and it was delicious! And super cheap :) We spent a lot of time walking around and exploring. I'll definitely be going back because I want to find some cheap scarves. Brittany and Meghan got nutella crepes that were huge! I tasted some of Brittany's and it was delicious! I love going to the markets. There are so many different things to find at them! We also found a lot of vendors selling old books and I was so tempted to buy a British copy of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix but it was too much. Maybe I'll find it again later for cheaper :) After exploring the market we headed over to the Globe to get in line for our show Hip Hop Othello. It was freezing outside so we grabbed some hot chocolate to keep us warm. It had been raining as well so we were worried that we were going to get soaked considering the Globe is an outdoor theater. But once we got let in to the theater it stopped raining and held out for the whole show! I decided to get a groundling ticket so I was standing the whole time but we got there early enough to be able to lean against the stage so we were right up there in the first row! So I was a little worried about this whole Hip Hop interpretation of the play and I wasn't sure what to expect. When we got inside the theater there was a DJ up on Juliet's balcony playing music and we were all bobbing to the music and singing along when we knew the words. It got us so pumped to see the show! And then the actors came out and started rapping the story. The entire show was done in a rap. It was amazing! There was a beat and some music behind the words as they spoke and all of the lines worked like lyrics. The lines rhymed and fit with the beat. It was so entertaining! And there were only five actors, all men, who played all of the roles. They had different wigs and hats to show which characters they were and it was surprisingly easy to follow. Desdemona was just a voice though which was interesting. No one actually played her which fits the play well actually because it's not about her. It's about Othello and the journey he takes. There were lots of musical numbers, too and they were quite funny! I was laughing so hard throughout most of the play which is funny because Othello is a tragedy. However, the part where Othello kills Desdemona was sooooo intense! The entire audience was silent. It was incredible! It was definitely my favorite interpretation of Shakespeare that I have ever seen! After the show the audience clapped so much that the actors came out like 3 times to bow. It was so cute because they were just in awe that we loved them so much! It was so cool to see this little group from Chicago making it big in London :) Then me and some of the other girls went out to the stage door and got their autographs and took pictures with them. We talked to them for a while, too and they were all super nice and down to earth. It was so much fun and I hope they keep doing hip hop Shakespeare because it will spread like wildfire because of how amazing it is! It was my favorite play that I've seen so far. Les Mis was definitely my favorite musical but this was my favorite play. So good! Oh and the actor who played Iago is from Drumline! Haha, so awesome!