Kate Tempest is an award winning poet, rapper-songwriter and playwright and has had the dubious mantle of being hailed the new big thing in British theatre.

Her fourth outing as a playwright, Hopelessly Devoted, plays at the Tricycle Theatre, Kilburn, until April 19.

It tells the story of Chess (Cat Simmons), a chippy young prisoner serving life for the murder of her violent husband and her search for redemption through music.

But this is no musical, nor opera. Rather, it is a play with songs, which are cleverly interwoven into the narrative and are the only way Chess has of articulating her deepest feelings about her predicament.

Chess is encouraged by prison tutor and music producer, Silver (Former EastEnder Michelle Gayle), to express her supposed talent over a 12-week music course.

Chess’s chippy, aggressive non-compliance at the start of the course, and the lack of any detail about her circumstances, leave little room for empathy for her. She comes across as a little self-pitying, but considering her circumstances the audience is pushed to try to understand.

Eventually, some elements of a softer side are revealed through her relationship with her cellmate Serena (Gbemisola Ikumelo), who is serving four years for theft and ABH.

This relationship is the ‘Hopelessly Devoted’ of the play’s title. Both fall in love, but it is unclear if the relationship is sexual or purely platonic.

One supine snuggle in the cell and a few hugs are the only intimation of physical intimacy. Yet, in their adversity, the two form a bond that is deep and mutual.

It is hard to decide whether to like Chess, played with gusto and a hard edge by Cat Simmons. We know nothing about the circumstances of how she killed her husband, leaving her child fatherless and effectively motherless.

The songs – co-written by Tempest and Dan Carey – that illuminate Chess’s innermost feelings are good and delivered with strong emotion by Simmons, especially those involving rap.

Cellmate, Serena, is a different fish. A mother-of-two, she is empathetic, warm and played with a humorous subtlety by Gbemisola Ikulemo, who makes the most of her supporting role and delivers the majority of the laughs in the show. She has a hauntingly beautiful singing voice too.

ON STAGE: Chess, Silver and Serena in the play, Hopelessly Devoted by kate Tempest with Paines Plough. Photo Credit: Richard Davenport

The frustrated Silver, once a top music producer and recovering addict, is given little to do, she shines through her small part and is humorous at times.

The staging of the music and songs is clever and effective and the minimal set – a single wall of ceiling tile squares upon which various lighting effects are projected – effectively conveys the claustrophobic feel of the confined prison spaces.

It is a well crafted piece of theatre, performed with energy and passion, and a worthy way to spend the 80 minutes or so of time that it lasted.

To book tickets to the show, which is on until Saturday, April 19, contact The Tricycle Theatre, 269 Kilburn High Road, London, NW6 7JR, call the box office on 020 7328 1000 or email info@tricycle.co.uk.