10 | SEPTEMBER 3 - 9, 2021 | WORCESTERMAGAZINE.COM
CITY VOICES LANDGREN THE CITY MAY RUN SCHOOL BUSES,
WORCESTERIA
FIRST PERSON
Joyner Lucas appears in the music video, “Dreams Unfold.” YOUTUBE SCREEN CAPTURE
BUT WHO WILL DRIVE THEM?
Hanover’s ‘Caesar’ inspires a deep dive into history, literature Randy Feldman Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK
I recently went to see the new Hanover Theatre Repertory production of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” set behind Worcester City Hall. The action was performed in front of and within the Oval in Worcester Common, which originates from 1669; a place where Isaiah Thomas publicly read the Declaration of Independence on July 14, 1776. The 1898 ornately constructed City Hall was a star of the show. Its glamour shined as its façade and balcony was lit up as a decorative backdrop in
hues of pink and shadows of light, dark and color, with Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” performed below. It was actually a moment in Worcester history. It was that good. It reminds us of when “West Side Story” was performed at Green Hill Park and covered by the national news show, “60 Minutes,” or the opening night of The Hanover Theatre, or the fi rst time one walks into Polar Park to attend a WooSox game. Not only was it cool, it was also important. Worcester having a true repertory company putting on iconic, meaningful See CAESAR, Page 12
Joyner Lucas’ vanishing video, Maureen Binienda battles shadowy foes Victor D. Infante Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK
‘DREAMS’ DEFERRED: Ah, the power of a cryptic social media post. When Joyner Lucas tweeted, “What, y’all tryin’ to sensor(sp) me,” Thursday, the internet freaked out a little bit. That tweet seems to have been taken down, but a subsequent Facebook post seems to indicate that he’s referring to a controversy around his new video, “Dreams Unfold,” featuring rapper Lil Tjay. It seems there was an uproar over the
video and how it parodied children’s television, with Lucas – who will be headlining Joyner Fest Sept. 5 outdoors at the Palladium – and Tjay portraying archetypical children’s TV characters and peddling drugs, violence and pornography to kids. It starts with a disclaimer that says, “This video is not suitable for children,” and ends with the words, “Let’s be better role models.” It’s kind of hard to trace the roots of the controversy, but while a lot of early responders seemed to get it, there was evidently enough uproar to have the offi cial
video pulled from YouTube. (It’s unclear at this writing whether that was a decision by YouTube or Lucas’ team.) Still, the message – that hip-hop knowingly traffi cs unhealthy subject matter to kids – seems pretty self-evident, but we live in sadly literal times, and satire just doesn’t seem to sink in anymore. ‘CAESAR’ INTERRUPTED: We had a nice letter from local disability activist Deb Ellstrom, who enjoyed our capsule review of ‘Julius Caesar’ See VIDEO, Page 12
