The Rose hosts singer Beverley Knight as the boundary-pusher Sister Rosetta Tharpe, introducing electric guitar to gospel music in the 1940s and 50s, and Ntombizodwa Ndlovu as Marie Knight, portrayed as a more reserved younger protegee who joined Rosetta on tour.

After a three-week run of this joyous two-hander (written by George Brant, directed by Monique Touko), the show does a UK tour of its own. Vital to its success is the magnificent singing, soaring through the auditorium space of the Kingston theatre, and the music from Liam Godwin (piano), Shirley Tetteh (guitar and musical direction), Ishara Andrews (drums) and Genevieve Namazzi (bass).

Quite why there is a need for smoke effects is beyond me, but the sombre setting of a funeral home – there being few rehearsal spaces at the time for black musicians – is powerful, and the pair of singers hold the attention throughout the one-and-three-quarter-hour show.

As is increasingly the case, there is no interval. In the context of theatre’s squeezed financial viability this seems near-suicidal, kissing goodbye to potentially £50,000 of drink and ice cream sales during the run. A rethink is overdue, no matter what precious playwrights may argue.

Blockbuster films now regularly factor in a cliffhanger interval for audience comfort and wellbeing, so why are theatres cutting their own throats?

The key takeaway from this terrific little show is that good music, emotional singing and historical references can be blended together into a memorable evening. You have until May 24 to catch it in Kingston. rosetheatre.org

Pics: Marc Brenner