2014 Edinburgh Fringe

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Comedic hip-hop storytelling fresh from New York's Soho Playhouse.

Chaucer's classic tales of greed, lust, jealousy and betrayal as you've never seen them before: with sparkling wordplay, live turntablism from DJ Jamie Simmonds, and seriously medieval swagger. The Canterbury Tales are beloved for their wit, richness of character and vulgar, shameless sense of humour. What better medium to bring those stories to life than a multimedia hip-hop performance?!

Embark on a tour of medieval history and the evolution of language, from the troubadour to the rapper. Baba is here to show you that the Wife of Bath, the Pardoner, The Merchant, and the Nun's Priest have a lot more in common with Nicki Minaj, Kanye West, Biggy, and Eminem than you may have thought...

Baba Brinkman is a pioneer of a whole new approach to theatre, bringing the excitement of a rap concert together with the wit of a stand-up comic and the mind-expansion of a TED Talk. He pioneered this hybrid concept at the Fringe in 2004, and it has been a hit with audiences worldwide ever since.

Chaucer's seminal poems are a longstanding favourite topic for Baba, who started rapping the Tales as a literature student way back in 1999. Since then his version has been through many evolutions, originally shown at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2004 (given five star reviews from the Scotsman), published as a book of poetry by premiere Canadian literary publisher - Talon Press, and commissioned for an off-Broadway run by New York's SoHo Playhouse in 2011 where it gained the accolade of NY Times Critic's Pick.

Now written anew with completely original and fresh material for the Fringe - Baba comes full circle and brings Chaucer back to Scotland. Directed by SoHo Playhouse Artistic Director, Darren Lee Cole.

Baba is coming to Edinburgh fresh from a major tour (The Rap Guide to Evolution) of nine venues across Australia in May and June, including the Victoria Arts Centre and the Sydney Opera House.