Western Washington University’s theater department presents its fourth Hip Hop Theater, showcasing performances rooted in hip-hop music and the struggles students can face.
This dual performance weekend on Jan. 23-24 featured two nights of unique perspectives and unconventional artistic expression, with the first of these performances held in 2016 and the most recent one held in 2024.
Night one featured an adapted theater piece performed by students, alumni and faculty based on playwright Idris Goodwin’s book “King of the Neuroverse,” which draws on his experience navigating school as a student with ADHD in 1999.
Brian Quijada and Nigel Robinson held a performance of their hit musical “Mexodus” on night two, which is a story highlighting the experience of people heading south through the Underground Railroad.
“It started with Brian Quijada and Idris Goodwin, who have been dear friends, colleagues and professional contacts for over a decade,” said Theater Department Chair Rich Brown. “And this is the first year we're expanding that out by bringing in Nigel Robinson.”
Jasmine Mahmoud, a professor of theater history and performance at the University of Washington, said the term "hip hop theater" first emerged in the 1990s alongside the massive rise in hip hop culture. Jonzi D, a London-based dancer and poet, used it to describe blended performance styles.
“When I think about hip hop theater, I think about combining these two forms,” Mahmoud said. “It’s about storytelling from originally a Black and Latinx urban perspective, low-income communities that were denied basic things and used their hands to beat on a table to make noise.”
In 2025, Goodwin used his book "King of the Neuroverse" as a foundation during Western's annual Test Kitchen for theater students. Goodwin collaborated with linguistics professor McNeel Janzen, students, alumni and faculty to bring the original play to life.
During the Test Kitchen, theater alumna Ella Newborn auditioned for the leading role of Pernell. Newborn hoped audiences would feel the story’s messaging and relate to the challenges Pernell faced at school.
“The story told holds so much universality, and my own personal experiences lend themselves to being able to make this story sing,” Newborn said.
Mattie English, a theater student who also performed in Neuroverse, didn’t even know she was in the performance until Tuesday, Jan. 20.
“I was a stand-in for this performance because my friend was, unfortunately, unable to make it,” English said.
English said she hoped audiences who come to the show could accept their differences and relate to Pernell’s experience in their own way.
“It’s a very endearing story, and it isn’t something we get to typically see in theater,” English said. “I think even old non-students can still relate to not fitting in class and having a mean English teacher.”
Theater offers opportunities for critical thinking, and for many people, the strongest impact of a show comes from relating to the story being told.
“In theater, we always feel,” Mahoud said. “Critical feeling and empathy, that’s what you’re feeling when you’re watching or performing a story.”
Night two held a performance of Quijada and Robinson's live-looped musical “Mexodous,” where they created the music as the musical went, looping beats and lyrics.
Western Theater Department Program Coordinator Kevin Harris has been loosely involved in the past few shows as a student and alumnus, but this year he gets to experience things as a staff member. Harris hopes that both shows can draw an audience beyond theater students but sees the draw for “Mexodus.”
“Tickets for that, you know, would have been hundreds of dollars probably in New York,” Harris said. “It's a pretty rare opportunity to see them not only for free but also in a really intimate educational space.”
The weekend overall offered a chance for the community to work through their struggles, like not being able to focus in class, through an engaging event filled with hip-hop culture.
“It's an opportunity to learn about yourself when you're sitting in that seat as an audience member by hearing the stories of the characters and the performers who are up on that stage,” Brown said.
Mahmoud described theater as important storytelling through representation, understanding the nuance of multiple viewpoints and forms of representation.
“It’s important as humans to sit with and hear each other’s stories, to do our part to be more human,” Mahmoud said. “We need to tell more stories of humanity.”
Jeffrey Fracé, a professor of acting and devising performance at the University of Washington, said stories addressing social change issues outnumber those that don’t.
“Theater is and has always been where we go to understand more deeply what it is to be human,” Fracé said. “The political and personal parts, the joyful and the painful, to think and feel and argue and celebrate together.”
Western’s Theater Department New Works Tour 2026 kicks off Feb. 12-14, a collection of short plays created by artists in the Pacific Northwest community. The next production, Failure: A Love Story, kicks off April 17-23.
Cody Sauter is a third year at Western studying PR and journalism. As a reporter for The Front, he writes for campus news. When he's not working, he enjoys reading, dancing with Western's SINI-HHA and watching movies with friends. You can reach him at codysauter.thefront@gmail.com.
