Rappers perform Shakespeare behind bars

The Chicago Shakespeare Theater put on a performance of a hip-hop version of "Othello" at Chicago's Cook County jail this week. The play was performed to an audience of 450 inmates and featured an onstage DJ and a plethora or rhyming, rapping and poetry. "Othello-The Remix," as the play is dubbed, was written and directed by two Chicago brothers and rappers known as "The Q brothers." The play features a modern-day plot which illustrates Othello as a rap star and music mogul. This is the third Shakespeare play the brothers have translated into hip-hop style. (Left) In this Aug. 27, 2013, photo, rapper Postell Pringle wears a wig as he performs in a hip hop adaptation of William Shakespeare's Othello, titled "Othello: The Remix" at the Cook County Jail in Chicago.

In this Aug. 27, 2013, photo, wearing wigs, rappers perform a hip hop adaptation of William Shakespeare's Othello, titled "Othello: The Remix" at the Cook County Jail in Chicago.

In this Aug. 27, 2013, photo, inmates watch as rappers perform a hip hop adaptation of William Shakespeare's Othello, titled "Othello: The Remix" at the Cook County Jail in Chicago. The Q Brothers and Chicago Shakespeare Theater brought the the 70-minute adaptation of William Shakespeare's tragedy to perform for about 450 inmates. This Othello remix is the brainchild of two Chicago brothers and rappers - GQ and JQ, aka Gregory and Jefrrey Qaiyum - who wrote and directed the show, a 40-draft, eight-month project.

In this Aug. 27, 2013, photo, rapper Postell Pringle performs in a hip hop adaptation of William Shakespeare's Othello, titled "Othello: The Remix" at the Cook County Jail in Chicago. The Q Brothers and Chicago Shakespeare Theater brought the the 70-minute adaptation of William Shakespeare's tragedy to perform for about 450 inmates. This Othello remix is the brainchild of two Chicago brothers and rappers - GQ and JQ, aka Gregory and Jefrrey Qaiyum - who wrote and directed the show, a 40-draft, eight-month project.

In this Aug. 27, 2013, photo, from left, rappers Postell Pringle, JQ and GQ, DJ Clayton Stamper, and rapper Jackson Doran take questions from the audience at the Cook County Jail after performing a 70 minute hip hop adaptation of William Shakespeare's Othello, titled "Othello: The Remix" at the Cook County Jail in Chicago. The Q Brothers and Chicago Shakespeare Theater brought the adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy to perform for about 450 inmates at the jail in Chicago. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

AP324792286658(1).jpg — AP Photo/M. Spencer Green

In this Aug. 27, 2013, photo, inmate Kristy Montgomery cheers from her seat while watching rappers perform a hip hop adaptation of William Shakespeare's Othello, titled "Othello: The Remix" at the Cook County Jail in Chicago. Montgomery, 29, said she came away from the play believing it had an important message: "Be careful of who you affiliate yourself with because they might not actually be your friends. They might be somebody who wants to bring you down." It?s a lesson, she says, she?ll try to heed "because I befriend the wrong people all the time."

In this Aug. 27, 2013, photo, inmates, from left, Eric McNeil, Kevin Fields, and Julian Campbell, dance in their seats while watching rappers perform a hip hop adaptation of William Shakespeare's Othello, titled "Othello: The Remix" at the Cook County Jail in Chicago. Campbell, 19, said the play offered two lessons: "Be honest. Always think before you do." Fields, also 19, saw the play as a cautionary tale. "You can't affect what other people do but you can affect what you do," he says. The show was an eye-opener in another way: "In hip-hop," he adds, "I finally found out what Shakespeare really is."

In this Aug. 27, 2013, photo, rappers perform a hip hop adaptation of William Shakespeare's Othello, titled "Othello: The Remix" at the Cook County Jail in Chicago. This new Othello - originally commissioned by Shakespeare's Globe Theater - has been performed in England, South Korea and Chicago. Taking the play behind bars, writers Gregory and Jefrrey Qaiyum expected the inmates would apply themes written five centuries ago to their own lives today.

In this Aug. 27, 2013, photo, rapper JQ, aka Jefrrey Qaiyum, fires up the crowd during a hip hop adaptation of William Shakespeare's Othello, titled "Othello: The Remix" at the Cook County Jail in Chicago. "The story of Othello and the way we paint it is very much of an outsider who kind of never feels like he's at home and I think that will be pretty relatable," JQ says. "(It) really comes down to choices and repercussions and often times, poor choices. I can't imagine that some people in there are not going to feel that."

In this Aug. 27, 2013, photo, rappers GQ, front, and Postell Pringle perform a hip hop adaptation of William Shakespeare's Othello, titled "Othello: The Remix" at the Cook County Jail in Chicago. The Q Brothers and Chicago Shakespeare Theater brought the the 70-minute adaptation of William Shakespeare's tragedy to perform for about 450 inmates. This Othello remix is the brainchild of two Chicago brothers and rappers - GQ and JQ, aka Gregory and Jefrrey Qaiyum - who wrote and directed the show, a 40-draft, eight-month project.

In this Aug. 27, 2013, photo, brothers and rappers JQ and GQ, aka Gregory and Jeffrey Qaiyum, who wrote and directed a hip hop adaptation of William Shakespeare's Othello, titled "Othello: The Remix" take questions from inmates at the Cook County Jail after performing their 70 minute show for about 450 inmates at the jail in Chicago.