“Pac & Biggie Are Dead” Play Debuts In Oakland

Tupac “2Pac” Shakur and Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace continue to take center stage more than 25 years after their murders. The Hip-Hop icons have inspired artists in different genres and mediums.

For instance, playwright Biko Eisen-Martin turned the tragic stories of Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. into a Shakespearean-like drama. Pac & Biggie Are Dead opened at Oakland, California’s BAM House on Friday, June 7.

“Black history nerds know these scenes and their coming to be,” Biko Eisen-Martin told a local news outlet. “Also, there’s a history of beefs in the culture.”

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Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. infamously feuded until they died in 1996 and 1997, respectively. Additionally, Biko Eisen-Martin seemingly compared Pac & Biggie Are Dead to one of William Shakespeare’s most famous works.

“Theater nerds know Hamlet… The mother of Hamlet often makes it into Western theater classics,” Eisen-Martin said. The roles of 2Pac’s mother, Afeni Shakur, and Biggie’s mother, Voletta Wallace, appear in Pac & Biggie Are Dead as well.

Previously, the life stories of Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. have been told through countless books, visual art pieces, motion pictures and documentaries. 2Pac’s music also inspired the Broadway musical Holler If Ya Hear Me.