The Tell-Tale Heart: A Rap Adaptation

Co-presented with Word for Word

“The Tell-Tale Heart,” adapted by Carlos Aguirre, is a hip hop musical layered with themes like Indigenous erasure, internalized racism, and the price of a guilty conscience. Using a blend of rap, classical music, and vocal percussion it tells the story of an unnamed narrator in an Indigenous community obsessed with ridding himself of his own roots by meticulously plotting against, executing, and burying his elderly neighbor in whose “vulture eye” he sees his own past reflected. However, his growing paranoia and belief that he can hear the old man's heart beating in the form of a haunting drum circle underneath the floorboards leads to his confession revealing his true madness. You cannot bury who you are. The ghost of your ancestors will haunt you like the “beating of a hideous heart…” Doors at 6:30pm. $35, limited sliding scale tickets available

Host or Publisher Litquake, San Francisco's Literary Festival