Shakespeare' gets a lot of credit but performer should, too

"One could be forgiven to pooh-pooh yet another play that lays out William Shakespeare's bona fides as a hip-hop icon, the original bar spitter who beefed with plenty of his contemporaries while dropping sick flows all over Elizabethan England. While the concept of Shakespeare's street cred as the ultimate OG emcee has been lampooned in plenty of places, what cannot be discounted is that everyone who has fallen in love with The Bard at some point did so for the very first time."

"The initial experience of Shakespeare's meter leads to a world of discovery of a man who quite literally changed the world with witticisms and insight and has shaped every corner of humanity since the 16th century. In Jacob Ming-Trent's deeply personal solo show How Shakespeare Saved My Life, playing at Berkeley Repertory Theatre through March 1, those discoveries were enhanced by his own chaos, often paralleling some of Shakespeare's most conflicted male characters."

"The connection to hip-hop comes from a more personal space; the music encompassed his Pittsburgh upbringing, as he listened to the hardened, grizzled poetry of Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. Those street-wise poets helped Ming-Trent make sense of his own complicated life with parents who couldn't fully love him for different reasons. But with Shakespeare, whose characters felt so familiar inside rules of prose and iambic pentameter, Ming-Trent found a poetry partner to hep him through life's brutalities."

"Delightfully directed by former Berkeley Rep artistic director Tony Taccone, Ming-Trent proves a joyous performer who dedicates his play to balancing out every great element for an effective solo show. His cadence is authoritative, reminiscent of Charles Dutton's classical training, and he can attract rapt attention from an audience. Acting as a profession requires grit and determination, and the the success rate from those who attempt it is staggeringly low."

Jacob Ming-Trent's solo show How Shakespeare Saved My Life at Berkeley Repertory Theatre interweaves Shakespeare and hip-hop to navigate personal history and emotional chaos. He credits Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. for shaping his understanding of poetry and survival during a difficult Pittsburgh upbringing with parents unable to fully love him. Shakespeare’s meter and conflicted male characters provided familiar language and structural guidance through trauma. Directed by Tony Taccone, the production showcases Ming-Trent’s commanding cadence and joyous stage presence, likened to Charles Dutton’s classical training, and emphasizes the grit and determination required in the acting profession.

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