The angels with pink highlights – Chris Craddock and Nathan Cuckow – started playing with rap seven years ago at Edmonton's Loud and Queer Cabaret, laying the groundwork for what eventually became the Fringe hit Bash'd. The gay pride rap opera plays at Factory Theatre until July 14 before spreading its wings for Winnipeg and New York.
Why gay, rapping angels?
Craddock: Hip-hop music is known for its homophobic elements, and gay people have been really alienated from that kind of music. We wanted to turn that idea on its head. Cuckow: It started off as kind of a one-note joke – just the concept of gay rap – even though there's an underground movement in most cities.
So the story and the message about bashing came later?
Cuckow: We talked about the idea of somebody getting gay bashed and how that affects not just the person, but his husband. To stay true to the story we had to move away from parody, away from the joke. That's why the first half is fun and playful and then it starts to switch in tone.
Was it hard to do that – to ruin the fun?
Craddock: We love our characters and we hate to do it to them, but they had it coming. [Laughs.]
Hip-hop is almost always used ironically by non-rappers. But there's none of that in your show – you play it straight, no pun intended, without any giant clocks and such.
Craddock: We love rap. We love hip-hop music. And we really admire and respect the artists who do it. And while there's an element of parody, we wanted to do the kind of parody that can, hopefully, also stand as an example of the art itself. Cuckow: Shout-out to our buddy Aaron Macri who did all the music.
How much of the story comes out of your own experiences?
Craddock: Our show is sort of based on the historical context of the equal-marriage debate, which, in Alberta, was super hotly contested by our homophobic former premier Ralph Klein. He used a lot of militaristic language about how he'd use “every weapon in his arsenal to fight this war” against human rights. And during that time – unfortunately it coincided with Pride Week – there was a big spike in violence.
And yet there's that big number in Bash'd about the relative ease of being gay in “the city”?
Craddock: It's a rural town/metro city comparison. Cuckow: Edmonton gets painted as a redneck town but that's not the case. In a lot of ways it can be very liberal. Craddock: But I would say that being a homo in a city like Toronto, New York or San Francisco is going to have more payoff. [Laughs.] Cuckow: It's even better. [Laughs.]
Are there any plans to put Bash'd out on cd? Or any other media?
Craddock: As a matter of fact, we recorded a CD, but we didn't have them with us because production was delayed. But they hit town on Thursday.