Tambo and Bones: hip hop apocalypse and chilling dystopia proves humans are idiots

Clifford Samuel and Daniel Ward. Photo by Jane Hobson.

Tambo & Bones at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry from 9 – 12 April, then on a National Tour from 7 March - 24 May 2025.

Review by Annette Kinsella.

Mind Blown. The End.

Not really…. but this would be my honest review of the hip hop apocalypse/dystopia Tambo and Bones, because I’ve never seen anything like this uncategorisable, genre-skewing play. Part Pinocchio, part Terminator, part Blade Runner, this two-person theatrical cornucopia, directed by Matthew Xia, whistles through 700 years of African American history, beginning in the 18th century of vaudeville and steamboats and ending 400 years in the future, where an AI nightmare rules supreme.

We meet the duo first as travelling minstrels in a highly artificial, trompe l’oeil rural idyll. Almost with a music hall vibe, the fourth wall is well and truly broken as the pair interact with the audience to articulate their desire for ‘realness’. Both seek power and legitimacy – Bones (Daniel Ward) believes money and success can bring him the validity he craves, whereas Tambo (Clifford Samuel), at first content in his own body, finds he cannot find peace until he and the entire Black community achieves equality in status.

Fast forward to present-day or a near-future dystopia, where the pair are international hip hop superstars. From a commentary at a Grammy awards ceremony, we discover a fictionalised US is now teetering on the brink of collapse, thanks to a racist president comprised of a terrifying blend of Trump, Bush and the current ruling political establishment. Stagecraft is used to brilliant surreal effect as newsreaders appear as huge, Max Headroom-esque puppet heads with grossly expanded jaws. The first act ends on a shocking assassination, setting the scene for the events to follow.

The second half brings the narrative into sharp focus – now in 2029, the duo are founding fathers of a revolutionary movement which has presided over a chilling technology-enabled white genocide. History is related via two AI ‘robots’ (the incredibly gifted Jaron Lammens and Dru Cripps), which are overseen by Tambo and Bones, and it seems their desire for autonomy and power is finally set to be sated. But the robots’ new sentience and demand for legitimacy of their own sparks an horrific explosion of violence, calling into question what ‘realness’ actually looks like, and who decides what who has it.

There’s no doubt all the cast were talented and proficient, equally convincing as rappers, robots or freedom fighters. But their sterling performances were almost overshadowed by the powerful and provocative, if confusing, script. Was it a prophecy, a warning, a biblical analogy of the Fall, or a playful morality story? What is at the heart of corruption – racism, capitalism or technology? Or simply flawed human nature? The play poses more questions than it answers, but maybe that’s the point – history is messy, humans are idiots and there are no easy resolutions.

Tickets are on sale now. https://www.belgrade.co.uk/