Hip-hop and rap have become familiar elements in the theatre over the past few years, and have even found their way into the West End in the musical Daddy Cool. Unlike some other appropriations of the street for the stage, Fin Kennedy's play about teenagers doing pirate broadcasts from a makeshift East End studio has a ring of authenticity.
Kennedy is the young writer who caused a stir earlier this year when his play How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found walked away with the prestigious John Whiting Award, despite the fact it had never been produced. Sheffield Theatres have now picked up that play and will be premiering it in the spring. In the meantime, Locked In demonstrates Kennedy's highly attuned ear for the patter of local kids and his understanding of the tribal loyalties of friendship, race, gender and religion that forge teenage identities.
Blaze, a young black teenager, and his Asian friend, Riqi, are the self-styled "two wise men" whose DJ/MC double act on the local pirate station is getting them noticed. But they are growing up, and the pressures are beginning to build. When Zahida, whom they both fancy, enters the equation, their friendship is blown apart.
Kennedy's play feels squeezed for time, and tries to stuff too many issues into the mix - from gun crime to Riqi's sudden embracing of Islam. It also doesn't entirely escape stereotypes.
However, Angela Michaels' production is steely, and the young cast live and breathe their roles. Once your ear attunes to the beat and rhythms of their speech, the show has you in its grip. The real test of this production is not whether it appeals to ageing Guardian theatre critics, but whether the kids Kennedy is writing about would venture in to to see it and recognise their own lives.
· At Harrow Arts Centre (020-8428 0124) tomorrow. Then touring.
