InterAct Theatre Company presents Idris Goodwin’s ‘Hype Man: A Break Beat Play’

The play’s title refers to Verb (Carlo Campbell), sidekick to Pinnacle (Kyle Glenn), a rapper poised for stardom. Along with Peep One (Bianca Sanchez), the resident beat genius, they stand primed to break big on The Tonight Show — but the aftermath of a police shooting threatens to derail both their mainstream success and their close relationships.

Verb wants to use their new platform as a call for justice. Pinnacle takes a pragmatic approach: “This is our introduction to a lot of new people. We probably shouldn’t come out the gate making political statements.” The divide between urgency and opportunity tests their friendship and partnership, as it provides each man a chance to look into the core of his soul.

Ambiguous histories

Goodwin packs a lot into the play’s 80 minutes, directed at a steady pace but with a general lack of insight by Ozzie Jones. Questions of identity in the rap world weigh heavily, defined by the differences in race and socioeconomic background between Verb (who’s black) and Pinnacle (who’s white). By virtue of his lived experience, Verb cannot separate the personal and the political; he bristles when Pinnacle suggests a need to establish their careers before taking a forceful stand.

Meanwhile, Peep One watches largely from the sidelines. Despite a genuinely fine performance from Sanchez, we learn little about her. An adoptee, she rejects racial categorization, claiming instead that she feels connected to all groups. That makes an interesting contrast to the fallout between Verb and Pinnacle, which rests so deeply on how their worldviews were formed. But perhaps because Goodwin doesn’t know how to treat Peep’s choice, he drops it for long stretches of the play. Likewise, her stated desire to welcome more women into the world of rap largely goes unconsidered.

Similarly, Pinnacle’s background remains somewhat shady, with references to a cop uncle or a somewhat affluent youth sketching in details that should be better developed. His connection to Verb goes back to childhood — at least that’s what we’re told — but a sense of shared history remains elusive in the writing and performances. Overall, Glenn lacks the necessary charisma to convince as a rising MC.

Sticking to the issues

Verb emerges as the only fully formed character, and Campbell — artistic director of the first-rate local company Theatre in the X — turns in a thoughtful, layered performance, finding levity and rectitude in equal measure. Yet, in a way, that accomplishment stands to reinforce the lack of specificity in the writing as a whole, especially in terms of Verb and Pinnacle’s partnership. You wonder why he’s the hype man and not the front man, but that’s not part of the story Goodwin tells.

Hype Man spins out in several directions, interrupted — sometimes a bit too forcefully — by musical interludes. The topics occupying Goodwin’s mind, which include questions of loyalty and selling out, contain the building blocks for a satisfying drama. But the play frequently feels like a compendium of issues that need to be worked through rather than an exploration of the lives and relationships of the characters at its center.

InterAct provides a handsome physical production, with a cozy record-studio set by Apollo Mark Weaver. Angela Myers’s lighting demarcates the quotidian aspects of life from the world of performance. Melissa Dunphy’s sound design occasionally renders the actors unintelligible, particularly when they rap.

Perhaps that’s a metaphor of the entire show. Hype Man has a lot to say. Too often, though, the message gets lost in the beat.