Mr. West is a hip hop opera about the rise and fall of the artist formerly known as Kanye West. He is one of the most controversial and successful musicians of this century.

We are not interested in defending the things Ye has said about Jewish people. We formally distance ourselves from the stances he takes in this. We do, however, want to understand what made him who he is. If we see theatre as a way to understand people who are far removed from us, Ye seems the perfect subject. Few people are as far removed from us, some poor Dutch students, as he is.

We are interested in understanding the pressures of fame and the life he lived. Why did Kanye West turn into the Ye we know and reject today? How did fame play a part in this? Is there a way to understand someone who says horrible things, and should we want to understand him at all?

“You know, if you guys want these crazy ideas and these crazy stages, this crazy music and this crazy way of thinking, there’s a chance it might come from a crazy person.”

(West, 2019)