Baba Brinkman Raps On

Late Wednesday evening, Brentwood seniors and Shawnigan students piled into the Killy Theatre in the T. Gil Bunch Centre for the Performing Arts for an engaging performance by Baba Brinkman.  A Canadian poet, rapper and playwright, Brinkman is best known for his music involving science and literature. He is also well known for his raps about Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales” in which he uses present-day examples and phrases to put a modern twist on classic stories.  The three Canterbury Tales that he retold (and which we will study in the coming weeks) were accompanied by visuals to make for an excellent show which he finished with an abridged version of “Beowulf” (which many of our classes are studying at the moment). His creative and provocative interpretations gave students a new perspective on the old stories and we were able to become involved with the performance by asking questions at the end. He even composed a freestyle rap from the questions right before leaving for pictures with students! I think that everyone would agree that the show was surprising, amusing, and informative. Cecilia B, Allard ‘15