Hype Man a break beat play by Idris Goodwin

Idris Goodwin is an unstoppable playwriting force.

When the trio gets cranking on musical numbers--you won't need a hype man's injunctions to put your hands up in the air.

The play hits you squarely and clearly where we all live right now--on the edge of painful change, where anger is easy, voices are many, and connection is hard... Best thing onstage now. No hype.

Hype Man is stunning, poignant, important... It deserves national attention.

Hype Man is brilliant in its poignancy surrounding ultra-current affairs and rejection of passivity. It reminds artists to "get on up" and say their stories, hardships, worldviews and more.

Indispensable viewing... Hype Man is not only engaging throughout, but resolutely relevant. The play's exploration of race relations at the intersection of class, friendship, and personal ambition could not be more timely.

Terrific... You don't need to enjoy rap to see this very entertaining and thought-provoking show.

Searing...threaded with hope and humanity... Hype Man is a powerful commentary on the tensions that arise between different groups in America based on race, gender, origin and socio-economic background.

Goodwin's Hype Man is a loud and clear clarion call for blacks and whites, cops and civilians, and everyone to get on up and openly, honestly discuss America's ongoing problems of racial violence and inequality. None of us get to sit this one out.

Riveting... The whole show crackles with energy... Something Hype Man gets right, where other overtly politically minded plays often go wrong, is that its action is rooted in the engrossing relationships among its three characters

Hype Man is theater at its urgent, vital best. See it and see it again.

Company One's production sizzles with the kind of dynamism that can result--if we're lucky--when a playwright with a distinctive voice and an urgent message teams up with a theater troupe whose aesthetic and sense of mission are as sharply defined as his.