‘The Bard in Bars’ Blends Shakespeare And Hip-Hop at Miami’s Lyric Theater

Miami performer David H. Hepburn is Willy Shakes, The Bard, in “The Bard in Bars” coming to the Historic Lyric Theater in Overtown on Friday, May 15 and Saturday, May 16. (Photo by Gregory Reed, courtesy of Art Prevails Project)

For playwright and educator Darius V. Daughtry, the connection between Shakespeare and hip-hop began in the classroom.

Daughtry, founder of Fort Lauderdale-based Art Prevails Project, was teaching “Romeo and Juliet” at Northeast High School in Oakland Park when his students made it clear they were not connecting with the material.

“They were like, ‘What is this?'” Daughtry recalls.

He reframed the rivalry between the Capulets and Montagues as the East Coast-West Coast hip-hop feud.

“And suddenly they got it.”

Darius V. Daughtry, founder of the Art Prevails Project, brings Shakespeare and hip-hop together in “The Bard in Bars,” a genre-blending production coming to the Historic Lyric Theater in Overtown on Friday, May 15 and Saturday, May 16. (Photo by Gregory Reed, courtesy of Art Prevails Project).

That teaching strategy became the foundation for “The Bard in Bars,” a production that blends Shakespeare with spoken word, rap and live orchestral music. “The Bard in Bars” is at Overtown’s Historic Lyric Theater on Friday, May 15 and Saturday, May 16.

“The genesis of ‘The Bard in Bars’ came from trying to help my students understand the themes in ‘Macbeth,’” he says.

Daughtry started developing “The Bard in Bars” in June 2023, the work was first presented in Pompano Beach in the The Pavilion at the Sample McDougald House, then in Fort Lauderdale in 2025 as part of the Broward Center’s Arts for Action: Black Voices Initiative, and at the African American Research Library and Cultural Center (AARLCC) in Fort Lauderdale in early May.

The performances at the Lyric Theater is the first time the show will be performed in Miami. “It’s been a dream of mine to do a show at the Lyric Theater,” Daughtry says.

Xaire Goodridge as Lysander, Yamille Mercedes as Helena and Omari Miles as Demetrius in “The Bard in Bars,” which reimagines Shakespeare through spoken word, rap and live orchestral music. (Photo by Gregory Reed, courtesy of Art Prevails Project).

For Daughtry, adapting Shakespeare is less about preservation than connection.

“It’s about the story and the universal themes,” he says. “Shakespeare was writing for everybody, using slang, innuendo and the language of everyday people.”

That philosophy guides the production’s fluid use of text.

“There are moments where I don’t touch the words at all,” he says. “And others where I help translate them so audiences can connect.”

The result is what Daughtry calls “a theatrical experience.”

“There are moments you might learn something or laugh, and others where you’re throwing your hands in the air like you’re at a show.”

Denzel McCausland and Marlo Vashti Rodríguez in a previous production of “The Bard in Bars.” (Photo by Ian Ibbotson. courtesy of Art Prevails Project)

Another perspective comes from Marlo Vashti Rodríguez, a Miami actress and jazz vocalist, trained in theater performance at Florida Atlantic University, who plays both Juliet and Lady Macbeth in the production.

“I access the characters through physicality first,” says Rodríguez. “Lady Macbeth has this elegance, this regal confidence. Juliet is playful, curious and youthful. They’re different colors of energy.”

Music helps her move between the characters.

“Sometimes when a character doesn’t know what else to say, they have to sing it,” she says. “The music gives us another way to express the story.”

Performing Shakespeare to hip-hop rhythms also gave her a new appreciation for the language.

David H. Hepburn, who plays Willy Shakes, The Bard in “The Bard in Bars,” says the production’s physical demands become part of the storytelling.  (Photo by Ian Ibbotson. courtesy of Art Prevails Project).

“Rapping Shakespearean language to 50 Cent or J. Cole, it’s very different,” says Rodríguez. “It gave me another way to understand the text.”

This approach allows actors to move beyond the traditional.

“We’re not always in iambic pentameter. We’re in the rhythm of the music, in our own flow,” she says. “It lets us take ownership of the language.”

That physical dimension extends across the cast, including David H. Hepburn, a member of Miami’s theater improv company troupe Just the Funny, who also  often performs with Art Prevails Project The Miami-based actor plays Willy Shakes, the Bard.

He says the production demands a high level of physicality and it presents challenges.

“You’re moving, you’re breathing, and you still have to deliver the work clearly,” he says.

The production brings together nearly 30 South Florida artists, including actors and the New Canon Chamber Collective, a 12-piece Miami ensemble performing live onstage.

“They’re not just musicians, they’re part of the cast,” says Daughtry. “Everything happening onstage is collaborative.”

Rodríguez sees that collaboration as central to the show

“You build a real sense of community and family,” she says.

And the production also engages questions of access and representation.

“Theater is powerful and healing, but it’s often inaccessible,” Rodríguez says. “And growing up, I didn’t see people who looked like me in those spaces.”

Now, performing Shakespeare within a diverse cast carries added meaning.

Marlo Vashti Rodríguez, who plays Juliet and Lady Macbeth in “The Bard in Bars,” says performing at the Historic Lyric Theater in Overtown carries special meaning because of the neighborhood’s rich Black cultural history. (Photo by Gregory Reed, courtesy of Art Prevails Project).

“Being part of a cast of Black and brown artists performing these stories reflects the world we actually live in,” she says.

That sense of place is amplified by the production’s setting in Overtown, which Rodríguez says has such a rich Black history  that is ever present in Overtown.

“Performing at the Lyric Theater, where artists like Ella Fitzgerald once performed, is an honor.”

Ultimately, “The Bard in Bars” aims to create a shared experience that resonates across backgrounds.

“I want people to have a good time,” Daughtry says. “You need moments of joy.”

He also hopes audiences leave with something more.

“If you didn’t understand ‘Macbeth’ before, maybe now you do. If you didn’t connect with hip-hop, maybe now you feel it.”

Rodríguez sees the production transcend multiple barriers.

“My uncle only speaks Spanish, and he still understood the show through the music and movement,” she says. “That meant everything to me.”

WHAT:  “The Bard in Bars”

WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday, May 15, Saturday, May 16

WHERE: The Historic Lyric Theater, 819 Northwest 2nd Ave., Miami.

COST:  Free or $20 for VIP includes pre-show art exhibition

INFORMATION: (954) 652-6545 or artprevailsproject.org

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