Academy for the Visual & Performing Arts hosted the Q Brothers in Rudder Theatre Wednesday night for a one night showing of their performance “Q Gents.”
“Q Gents” features the Q Brothers returning to high school in a hip hop version of Shakespeare’s “Two Gentlemen of Verona.” The only two actors throughout the entire 75-minute play are brothers GQ and JQ who acted out more than 20 characters, staying on stage the entire play.
According to their website, the Q brothers’ passion is to take classic works and turn them into modern plays, while still keeping the main concept of the original stories. The brothers said they believe by doing this they are making the original stories more accessible to modern day audiences.
Throughout the performance Rudder Theatre was filled with laughter and interaction from the audience. Horticulture sophomore Megan Teale said the incorporation of other works into the play is what made the performance unique.
“The coolest part to me was how a lot of the songs they performed were brought in from other movies and plays, they really worked hard at knowing what past movies would intrigue the modern day audience,” Teale said. “I feel that if you are going to be doing another version of a classic play, then this is the way to do it.”
Many students came into the performance without knowledge of the original performance by Shakespeare. Biology freshman Donavan Blackman said this lack of knowledge gave students the chance to be open minded about the performance.
“Coming into the performance tonight I had actually not seen Two Gentlemen of Verona but after seeing this play I’m going to go check it out,” Blackman said.
Isabelle Serna, English junior said she admired how The Q Brothers had a modern twist, making the performance easier to understand Shakespeare’s version. Serna also compared the performance to a modern Hamilton play, stating productions like these make it easier for this generation of viewers to understand.
Blackman said what struck him as the most impressive aspect of the performance was that GQ and JQ never left the stage. Two coat racks were set in the middle of the stage filled with the Q Brothers costumes to change into during the performance. If one brother was changing behind the coat rack the other would be finishing a song.
“It was amazing that they never left the stage the entire show, I would definitely watch this performance over again or go to their other performances,” Blackman said. “The way the Q Brothers portrayed all the different characters was very unique.”
Teale said that the Q Brothers left a positive impression on her and made her think about going to more performances that A&M will host.
“This performance made me want to come back to see more plays that A&M hosts. I bought the season pass so I am really looking forward to more performances,” Teale said.