About this Event
BAR EXAMS: Season Finale — October 2nd
Bar Exams returns for the final show of our official first season in Indianapolis!
Created by Dr. Austin Dean Ashford, Bar Exams is a live hip hop theatre game night where rap lyrics become monologues, famous bars become debate topics, and the audience helps decide who really “passed the bar.”
After a powerful first season at Ujamaa Community Bookstore, we are closing the year with one more night of performance, comedy, debate, music, and community energy.
This is not a concert.
This is not an open mic.
This is not a regular theatre show.
This is Bar Exams — where lyrics go on trial.
RAP MONOLOGUES
Performers take a verse from a rap song and perform it like a theatrical monologue, using character, emotion, storytelling, humor, and stage presence to bring the lyrics to life.
It is not just rapping the song.
It is acting through the lyric.
LYRIC DEBATES
Performers take a famous hip hop line and argue it like a debate prompt — agreeing or disagreeing with the bar through humor, insight, quick-thinking, and cultural analysis.
Think: bars as philosophy, bars as comedy, bars as testimony, and bars as a case the audience gets to judge.
WHAT TO EXPECT
- Live hip hop theatre
- Rap Monologues
- Lyric Debates
- Audience scoring and participation
- Local artists performing, arguing, and playing with lyrics in real time
- A fun community night where reactions are encouraged
- The final Bar Exams show of the 2026 season in Indianapolis
Whether you are an actor, rapper, poet, comic, teacher, student, music lover, or somebody who just loves a good live show — this night is for you.
Come laugh, react, debate, and help us decide who really passed the bar.
Bring a friend. Come early. Let’s close the season with a bang.
Event venue & nearby stays
Ujamaa Community Bookstore, 2424 Doctor Martin Luther King Junior Street, Indianapolis, United States
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.