Hip-Hop Theater Festival Returns September 23- October 11

Hip-Hop Theater Festival (HHTF) returns to its roots with a uniquely entertaining presentation that bridges the gap between the art, culture, and music of Hip-Hop from September 23 - October 11. Teaming with New York University’s (NYU) Skirball Center, NYU’s Center for Multicultural Education and Programs, The Public Theatre and several collaborators across New York City, the Hip-Hop Theater Festival aims to showcase the artistic form of Hip-Hop culture through fully-produced theater works, staged readings, educational panels, dance showcases and workshops.

In collaboration with NYU’s Skirball Center, the Hip-Hop Theater Festival opens with renowned poet and spoken word artist Marc Bamuthi Joseph's much-anticipated the break/s. Inspired by Jeff Chang’s 2005 award winning Can't Stop Won't Stop which captures the creation of Hip-Hop as a local, political and artistic movement and based on Marc Bamuthi Joseph’s international travels, the break/s is a breakthrough multimedia performance that explores the artist's emergence in a time of Hip-Hop globalization and trans nationalism.

For the first time, Hip-Hop Theater Festival has partnered with The Public Theatre to present an unprecendented tour across all five boroughs free of charge. In the play Taking Over, Hip-Hop Theater Festival founder and award-winning actor Danny Hoch takes on gentrification through nine expertly performed roles. As a native New Yorker who has witnessed firsthand the many colors, complexities and contradictions that reflect gentrification, Mr. Hoch presents a unique forum for thought and discussion. Yielding top-notch reviews from its run at the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Mr. Hoch shares his multi-faceted experience with gentrification with his New York neighbors.

The Hip-Hop Theater Festival will also present the Hip-Hop remix of Voices: A Peoples History of the United States. The Voices project is a unique collaboration between Anthony Arnove and Howard Zinn, the authors of Voices and HHTF, as they set to ignite and honor the voices from America’s progressive history of activism as read by some of today’s hottest talent from the Hip-Hop generation. Uniquely fashioned as a night of theater, this one time event promises to be a unique fuse of multi-generational artists and performers, celebrating the courageous participants of history that gave birth to arguably the most powerful generation of Americans yet, the post-civil rights generation of Hip-Hop heads from Chuch D to Eminem.

With this year’s Style Masters, the Hip-Hop Theater Festival evolves into another realm of arts and culture. Hosted by NYU’s Skirball Center and curated by Alan Ket, an avid collector, historian and practitioner, Style Masters is a visual-arts exhibit celebrating the pioneering artists that have helped to shape the worldwide public art phenomenon known as graffiti. Style Masters intends to recognize and highlight the global contributions made by local NYC based artists such as PART ONE, CHAIN 3, T-KID 170 and NOC 167, while making an effort to preserve work that should not be forgotten in the broader lexicon of Hip-Hop and urban culture.

“In the past, the Hip-Hop Theater Festival has focused on introducing the Hip-Hop culture to other cities. This year, we are extremely excited to bring the festival back home,“ states Clyde Valentin, event producer and executive director of the Hip-Hop Theater Festival. “It has been such an amazing opportunity to work alongside recognizable organizations such as NYU’s Skirball Center and The Public Theatre to educate the city about the culture and art so ingrained in its history. With this collaboration, we believe this going to be our best festival yet.” For more information regarding the Hip-Hop Theater Festival, please visit - www.hhtf.org