In recent years, hip-hop has become a hugely influential cultural force, effortlessly diffusing into the mainstream via fashion and commercial music releases.

However, it was not until Felix Cross, director of the UK's premier black theatre company NITRO, partnered theatre with the ethos of hip-hop and basketball culture that these two diverse mediums had ever been fused.

Challenging the traditional language of theatre, Cross recognised the unrealised potential of projecting a concoction of dance, streetball and rap in to theatre.

"I remember thinking, 'My God, this is beautiful. If you had these guys in tights and put them on the stage, it would be ballet," says Cross.

The result is a fast-paced, energetic and innovative musical that defies convention.

Dealing with themes of divided loyalties and the battle between personal ambition and friendship, the brotherhood of basketball is used as a vehicle for expressing unity, albeit without ever plunging that deep in to meaning.

However, this lack of emotional depth is quickly muted in the dynamic rhythm of the beats, speech and movement of the performance, with a cast of clearly very talented dancers.

Body-popping champ Benji Reid provides the stimulating and stylised choreography, with music by the award-winning jazzman Soweto Kinch producing a highly innovative musical.

With infectious energy, the vibrancy of the production and performance create one of the most dazzling, highly charged musicals you'll see this year, leaving the audience as enthused as if they had just walked out of a real life basketball game.