#BARS Workshop dispatch #1

Rafael Casal teaching the first #BARS Workshop #2On Monday, July 18, 2016 eighteen poets, rappers, actors, beatboxers, and playwrights gathered at The Public Theater in New York City for the #BARS Workshop #2.

The instructor Rafael Casal said that when he was selecting the eighteen out of hundreds of applicants that he felt like Professor X with Cerebro peering out into the universe and assembling the hip hop theater X-Men. Rafael is an experienced theater instructor with a strong background in hip hop and spoken work. I interviewed him book Oakland in Popular Memory. If you haven't seen his work, check out his videos on YouTube.
Matt Werner at the Public TheaterThe goal of the class is to produce a new theater piece that we'll perform and record at The Public Theater on Monday, September 5. We'll be joined by Daveed Diggs and other leading performers in the hip hop theater space for our final performance.

The first class included an introduction to approaching verse and a rap battle exercise. Exiting the class, we ran into Daniel Radcliffe and Amy Poehler in the lobby who were celebrating the opening night of Privacy at The Public Theater. After the class, we went for drinks at a local spot, and I learned more about the eclectic backgrounds of class participants--from beatboxing to acting in In The Heights, and spoke with some veteran actors who flew out from California specifically for this workshop.
Matt Werner with #BARS instructor Rafael CasalLooking forward to the next 7 weeks!