The Geffen Playhouse hosted “WHAT IT IZ: The Spoken Wordical” on Dec. 6-7, a groundbreaking hip hop theater production written by formerly incarcerated and system-impacted artists.
Directed by UCLA professor Bryonn Bain and produced by Jai Williams, the performances were the culmination of a transformative ten-week residency and workshop series that fused art, education, and advocacy.
“WHAT IT IZ: The Spoken Wordical” is a multimedia remix of “The Wizard of Oz” – inspired by “The Wiz” —that intertwines music, poetry, comedy, and activism to expose the devastating impact of mass incarceration on families and communities.
The production originated in a creative writing workshop at the California Institute for Women (CIW), California’s oldest women’s prison, and was brought to life through the UCLA Prison Education Program and the Hip Hop Theater Collaborative.
Reflecting on the history and power of hip hop theater and spoken word, Bain wrote in the course syllabus, “Hip Hop Theater and Spoken Word Poetry are rooted in the ancient storytelling traditions of African griots and the linguistic jousting of the ‘dozens’ during the Middle Passage.
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“From the blues and sermonic traditions of the American South to the protest songs of the Civil Rights Era, and the revolutionary poetry of the Black Power movement… These outlets for writers and performing artists worldwide resist and remix traditional verse, participatory theater, and popular culture.”
Williams, who also choreographed the show, added, “This workshop production has been an incredible journey. It’s a testament to the resilience and creativity of those who’ve faced unimaginable hardships yet continue to rise, tell their stories, and inspire change.”
The performances at the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater featured a pre-show art installation created by prison survivors. The event was part of the “Theater as a Lens for Justice” initiative, a collaboration between the Geffen Playhouse and the UCLA Center for Justice. The partnership seeks to spark critical conversations around race, gender, and systemic inequities while fostering community connections through the arts.
The production emerged from a UCLA course taught by Bain that examined social justice through the lenses of hip hop theater, spoken poetry, movement, and activism. Describing the class, he explained, “This process and project-oriented course asks students to explore and examine social justice while staging and preparing to perform a contemporary work fusing hip hop theater, spoken poetry, movement, music, art, and activism.”
The course included five workshops at the Geffen Playhouse where students worked closely with industry professionals to learn stage management, production, and theater operations. The syllabus featured readings from Angela Davis’s writings on abolition, Audre Lorde’s “Poetry is Not a Luxury,” and Questlove’s “Hip Hop is History.”
