According to a street sign onstage at the start of Q Brothers Christmas Carol, the setting is the intersection of Dickens and Hip Hop. I cannot think of a more succinct or accurate way to describe this marvelous show, which is currently running in a superb production by St. Louis Shakespeare Festival.

The Q Brothers Collective, which created the show, is renowned for its hip hop “add-rap-tations” of Shakespeare plays and other classics. St. Louis theatergoers may remember two delightful Q Brothers works already performed here: The Bomb-itty of Errors, based on The Comedy of Error, staged in 2007 by The Rep; and Dress the Part, based on Two Gentleman of Verona, staged in 2020 by St. Louis Shakespeare Festival.

Q Brothers Christmas Carol is just as much fun as the others—maybe even more fun because the Dickens source material is so well known.

The “add-rap-tation” of A Christmas Carol closely follows the story of the 1843 Dickens novella but transports the action to the contemporary world of Hip Hop. Its rhythms are built into every line and are a continual joy to hear in the irresistible music composed by JQ of the Q Collective.

The brilliant script was written by Q Collective members GQ, JQ, JAX, and ROS. They filled their work with delightful allusions and ingenious equivalents to Dickens’ characters and incidents.

Instead of bearing chains, Jacob Marley’s ghost exists in a personal hell based on his hatred and exploitation of people from Jamaica. Jacob is condemned to rap throughout eternity in the style of the Jamaican artist with whom he shares a last name, Bob Marley.

The Ghost of Christmas Past is an old-school rapper from the 1980s. Appropriately, the first place the ghost and Scrooge visit is Scrooge’s old school. The Ghost of Christmas Present, in contrast, is described in the script as a “flamboyant and celebratory rapper with a nimble gift for wordplay. Super stylish. Archetypes: Andre 3000 from Outkast, Snoop Dogg.”

The lawyers who ask Scrooge for charitable donations have the same names as two famous brothers: Rahm Emanuel, the former mayor of Chicago, and Ari Emanuel, the media mogul on whom the leading character of Entourage was based. Bringing Jewish characters into a Christmas story is one of many signs of the show’s inclusiveness. Another is giving Scrooge’ nephew, Fred, a same-sex partner.

Scrooge’s first employer, Mr. Fezziwig, has his name shortened to Fezzy, and his business becomes Fezzy’s Wigs and Weaves. Scrooge and Fezzy’s daughter, Belle, fall in love through their shared love of accounting. In the show’s words, they “get fiscal.” Sadly, Scrooge makes the wrong choice when he must decide whether to follow a business model based on Belle’s generosity or Marley’s ruthlessness.

Tiny Tim’s counterpart in the Q Brothers version has a rapper’s name, Lil’ Tim. He suffers from an unending series of ailments, but his joy in life is irrepressible. “He loves gangsta rap and Christmas,” the script specifies, “and constantly makes Christmas parodies of classic hip hop songs.”

The Festival’s staging has exhilarating energy thanks to the direction by Q Brothers Collective (GQ, JQ, and JAX) and the choreography by Steph Paul. Four excellent performers play all the characters. In alphabetical order they are:

• Victor Musoni as Jacob Marley, Lil’ Tim, and others
• Maya Vinice Prentiss as Bob Cratchit, Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and others
• Mo Shipley as Oliver, Fred, and others
• Garrett Young as Scrooge

They are stylish rappers who relish every opportunity to share their delight in the material.

The fifth member of the cast is Mel Bady as DJ Stank, whose splendid deejaying is an indispensable part of the show’s sound world. So is Stephen Ptacek’s sound design.

Erika McClellan’s costumes have an attractive basic look that allows the performers to switch roles efficiently with additions that are specific to each character. William Attaway’s flexible scenic design is a sparkling St. Louis winter scene that takes on strikingly different looks under Jesse Klug’s lighting.

Q Brothers Christmas Carol continues through December 23 in the intimate, rock club–style setting of the Legends Room at the National Blues Museum, 615 Washington Avenue. All seats are within 40 feet of the stage. More information and tickets are available at the Shakespeare Festival’s website.

—Gerry Kowarsky

Photo © Phillip Hamer Photography
From the left Garrett Young (Scrooge) and Maya Vinice Prentiss are at the intersection of Dickens and Hip Hop in Q Brothers Christmas Carol.