This quick-witted, big-hearted production by the enterprising young British company ZooNation proves that narrative hip-hop dance theatre has a place in the West End.

Into the Hoods enjoyed a brief pilot run at the Peacock Theatre in early 2006; it then went down a storm on the Edinburgh Fringe for two consecutive years. The director and choreographer, Kate Prince, and her collaborators have now expanded the show without losing any of its bright-eyed and bushy-tailed appeal. In short, it deserves to be a hit yet again.

Loosely inspired by the Stephen Sondheim musical Into the Woods, the evening is billed as “an urban fairytale”. It is not a musical, although Danilo “DJ” Walde’s soundtrack is a wonderfully bouncy, nonstop collage of popular music, ranging from Stevie Wonder to Barry White, alongside current hip-hop artists. With spot-on timing, Prince’s dancers have cued their sassy characterisations and wealth of springy, muscular steps to his cut-up score.

The show’s sweet-natured smartness extends to a scenario propelled by Felix Harrison’s slick, clever film and digital back projections and a prerecorded storybook narration that Josh Cohen delivers with just the right amount of tongue in cheek. The plot concerns two runaway schoolkids (Russell Royer and Alicia Lai on the press night) who wind up on the Ruff Endz Estate. There, in a tower block, dwell a handful of familiar figures given a mischievous hip-hop twist.

They include the aspiring DJ Spinderella (played by Teneisha Bonner) and the self-styled celebrity Prince (Roger Davies); the budding songstress Lil Red (Sacha Chang) and the Wolf (Andry Oporia) keen to exploit her talent; the impoverished, basement-dwelling beatboxer Jaxx (Rowen Hawkins), who must battle against the drug-dealing Giant (Jeffrey Felicisimo) up in the penthouse; and the wannabe MC Rap-on-zel (Rhimes Lecointe), whose stern father (Frank Wilson) is also the building’s shrewd landlord. The only hope the schoolkids have of earning their bus fare back home is by completing a series of tasks the latter poses for them.

All of this is executed with what Prince, in a heart-on-sleeve programme note, aptly refers to as ZooNation’s “absolute desire to entertain and energise an audience”. Credit her with having sufficient showbiz savvy to apply musical-comedy principles to hip-hop. The cast are terrific: exuberant, sexy when they need to be and unexpectedly funny in a broad, cartoon style. Their dancing is watertight and the choreography they created with Prince is consistently inventive. As a brief warm-up act, the charming and politically articulate street poet Mr Gee sets the tone for what amounts to a great night out.

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