Fools and Madmen is a series of mobile hip hop adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays, touring Baltimore City Schools and communities.
Our goal is to bridge hip hop and classical theatre culturally and artistically, and to combat racial disparity in classical theatre.
We believe that Shakespeare’s stories and characters are for everyone to access, and hope to break the perception that they belong only to one audience or culture. Using classical and modern language, poetry and music, rhyme and rhythm, our productions show that the only thing separating hip hop and Shakespeare as artforms are the voices and experiences of the people telling the stories.
Our Shows:
Our shows follow the following format:
60-75 minute play with no intermission
Performed in the round with an intimate audience no more than 2 rows deep
Live musical accompaniment
10 hip hop songs, written by Josh Thomas, woven throughout the classical text of the play
Ensemble of 10 BIPOC actors
Directed by and designed by BIPOC artists
Our Team
Josh Thomas
Script Adaptation/Song Writer/Music Direction
Caitlin Carbone Hernandez
Script Adaptation/Text Coach
Aladrian Crowder Wetzel
Associate
Not Pictured: All the amazing Baltimore BIPOC artists we work with who make it possible to do what we do.
