“Pac & Biggie Are Dead” Play Debuts In Oakland

Tupac “2Pac” Shakur and Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace continue to take center stage more than 25 years after their murders. The Hip-Hop icons have inspired artists in different genres and mediums. For instance, playwright Biko Eisen-Martin turned the tragic stories of Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. into a Shakespearean-like drama. Pac & Biggie Are Dead opened at Oakland, California’s BAM House on Friday, June 7. “Black history nerds know these scenes and their coming to be,” Biko Eisen-Martin told a local news outlet. “Also, there’s a history of beefs in the culture.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Biko Eisen-Martin (@saybiko) Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. infamously feuded until they died in 1996 and 1997, respectively. Additionally, Biko Eisen-Martin seemingly compared Pac & Biggie Are Dead to one of William Shakespeare’s most famous works. “Theater nerds know Hamlet… The mother of Hamlet often makes it into Western theater classics,” Eisen-Martin said. The roles of 2Pac’s mother, Afeni Shakur, and Biggie’s mother, Voletta Wallace, appear in Pac & Biggie Are Dead as well. Previously, the life stories of Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. have been told through countless books, visual art pieces, motion pictures...