( ENSPIRE Entertainment ) The Bushwick Starr and All For One Theater present: Brobot Johnson Experience
ENSPIRE Contributor: Tylah Willis
The Brobot Johnson Experience is written and performed by starred award-winning solo performer Darian Dauchan. Performed at the Bushwick Starr in Brooklyn, NY it gives you a sense of what Afro-futurism is through immersive play that stresses the importance of everyone coming together through Hip Hop analogies. Immersive theater is a theatrical form that allows the audience to participate in the performer’s world, breaking the “fourth wall” that usually separates the audience from the performer. This was our first time participating in an active crowd of dancing and singing. as we followed the plot of a Hip Hop android race known as Brobots will form a unit, The Tribe Called Space Quest, to spread their message of peace, love, and dopeness all over the universe.Participation flowed with the storyline of a rhyming Brobot from the future who swears in popular 90’s rap and hip-hop artists. It was humorous and catchy. A hip-hop lover will appreciate the numerous mentions of hip-hop artists, their lyrics or song titles. Throughout the play, he referenced many prominent 90’s Hip Hop artists such as LL Cool J, MC Lyte, Queen Latifa, Wu-tang Clan, Jay-Z, The Tribe Called Quest and many more. This show is great for someone who knows about hip-hop in the nineties but if you are someone who has no knowledge of hip-hop in the nineties you can still watch and participate.
Dauchan’s piece was definitely packed with a diverse crowd of people who seemed ready for the active and musical aspects of the show. Even if you don’t love hip hop but you are knowledgeable of immersive theater and are willing to get off your feet, bobbing your head and learn about something new this is also for you. The only question that stands for this piece is will the hip-hop analogies and plot of the show influence the power of togetherness in our reality? Overall, this piece certainly surpassed the meaning of immersive theater and is surely a must see.
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