Review: Rapsody

At the right angle, Elz and James can be glimpsed through the screen of Toni’s phone, mid-recording, with their fingers pointing and heads nodding, rapping to the backing track. It frames the play with an acute awareness: Rapsody is something of a snapshot, capturing four characters navigating their own performances – to each other and to themselves. Upon the arrival of the somewhat reserved Jamie to the hostel, the lives of the four young people come undone over a few short days. It’s a careful exploration of the UK’s class system through a sharp yet personal lens.

Its difficult topics are undercut by the warmth of the characters. Care is communicated on their own terms, adding a welcome depth. Meanwhile, sharp one-liners bring a certain light, further consolidating both the characters’ own relationships and our intimate relationship with them.

It’s all expertly held together by rap, drill, and track interludes, with each character granted a standalone performance. Impassioned and unflinching, each one is fully committed to with an unashamed vulnerability that is truly palpable. 

But these performances are also used to shoehorn in the characters’ backstories with a certain hastiness. Simply, the play needs more space. The characters deserve more room to stretch and fold and curl in on themselves; their stories feel suffocated in the precious sixty minutes. Rapsody isn’t merely worthwhile – it’s worth more.