Kiln theatre, London
It’s the actors who carry Dan McCabe’s play about New Yorkers in the music business, which combines gentle comedy and social satire with a rap battle

Two Black men are shooting the breeze on the steps of an apartment block when a crotchety white neighbour joins them for a smoke. Aimless chatter tumbles into argument, and there are charges of racist bigotry angled at the white man, Gerry (Jasper Britton), who is gay, and suggestions of homophobia against the other two.

Dan McCabe’s play, which won plaudits when it premiered in Boston, throws several intriguing nuggets around race, sexuality and the politics of hip-hop into this opening setting. However, it seems to shoot the breeze itself for a little too long.