The Ensemble Theatre presents the regional premiere of Beatbox: A Raparetta, a modern dramatic musical production written and performed in rhythm and rhyme with vocal drumbeats (beatboxing), hip hop dance, and a live DJ. The play is soaked in the beat and the heat of hip-hop culture: the sense of desperation held at bay; the powerful rap rhymes built from equal parts of anger and hope; and the constant threat of violence. Focus is on the lives of two step brothers, and the circumstances that begin to pull them apart, as they navigate through loss, jealousy, poverty, and dreams.