Kate Prince - lyricist, librettist, choreographer, artistic director of ZooNation and hip hop ambassador to the West End - clearly has a lot on her mind.
Intolerance, library closures and the need for street culture to embrace more formal education are only some of the issues bubbling under this ungainly parable about an embittered ruler (Duwane Taylor) who steals the sun and turns his city into a woman-oppressing fortress where love and books are banned.
Such a behemoth should be impossible to animate but with the help of an always serviceable and occasionally inspiring R&B score the cast brings it vibrantly to life. Tommy Franzén is irrepressible as a nerdy, book-smuggling Clark Kent who doesn't have to ditch the specs to be a superman. He provides a dazzling series of caterpillars, flips, flairs and cossack kicks to demonstrate, as the accompanying song claims, his "175 IQ".
At the other end of the happy spectrum, Taylor's fierce, angry locking represents a body whose own neurons are trying to Taser it into submission.
And Teneisha Bonner, as one of two women who disguise themselves as men to infiltrate the city, proves to be his mushy but choreographically brilliant redemption, by throwing his own moves back at him, softened, feminised and thus stronger. Then it all ends in a party. Despite the shaky structure, Some Like it Hip Hop looks sure to be a massive hit.
Until November 19 (0844 412 4300, sadlerswells.com)
ZooNation Dance Company: Some Like It Hip Hop
Peacock Theatre
Portugal Street, WC2A 2HT
