Between The Lines – New Diorama Theatre, London

Writers: James Meteyard and Jammz

Director: Maggie Norris

In the early 2000s, as Blair and Bush were defining a new era of morality politics, when the ‘war on terror’ was symptomatic on the streets as racism and when CCTV and ASBOs were spreading like the plague, a new wave of jungle and grime pirate radio stations were being broadcast from East London across the city. These stations, such as the now above-board Kool FM and Rinse FM, provided an incubator to the rapidly developing grime scene and acted as safe havens for many disillusioned black and working-class Londoners.
Between The Lines is set at one such station, the fictional Blaze FM, broadcasting out of a tower block in Hackney, headed up by the gentle patriarch Hughbert (Andrew Brown) and hosted by cheeky DJ Prittstick (Marcus Reiss). Blaze FM is a living room, news desk and music studio all rolled into one.

As harrowing as it may be to even suggest that a play set in the early 2000s is anything approaching historical fiction, the script, written by James Meteyard and Jammz, is an incredibly well-researched time capsule into the grime scene as it was then. It makes no allowance for audience members who might not know what a rewind is, or why the MC is asking for missed calls. And there is no softening of the patois or MLE spoken throughout. It is an intact presentation of a scene that was also still intact, not quite yet picked apart by hungry music industry executives or disapproving politicians.

Between The Lines is essentially a kitchen sink drama that follows the Blaze FM family as they traverse the difficulty of working-class life. It touches on a whole host of issues and themes such as terrorism, racism, violence, censorship, immigration, deportation, the price of fame and gentrification. It is maybe one or two too many things, but each point is handled with grace and realism and with a large ensemble cast it is believable that so much life could come their way. Similarly, the cast is unjustifiably big and doesn’t allow adequate development for all characters.

It is frustrating to have the thrill of otherwise tight ensemble performances stilted by the affected performance given by Nadean Pillay as Sparks and the left-field monologue given by the otherwise charismatic Daniel Holden as Mute. However, the fat is easily cut through by some stand-out performances. Brown is tour de force as Hughbert. He is always believable, often hilarious and sometimes devastatingly sad. Brown gives the type of considered performance you would expect to see in a high-budget TV drama or on the National stage. Aliaano El-Ali and Alexander Lobo Moreno as Alpha and Jason also excel in their gut-wrenching subplot, both actors managing to hold the type of resentment and emotional development that can only be built up over the narrative’s 13-year time span.

Perhaps the most exciting element, however, is the original music by Jammz, a grime legend. It is no surprise that the tracks in the show feel plucked off an early 00s pirate radio station, and then later become influenced more heavily by mainstream grime in the mid-2010s. The lyrics are poignant and serve the story, and the beats immediately bring back that 00s nostalgia. It is music created by someone who really knows what they’re doing and it shows. There is not an audience member in the house who isn’t, at the very least, tapping their foot to the sound that, for many, defined a generation.

Runs until 1 June 2024