Idris Goodwin's 'How We Got On' at Forum Theatre

A would-be rapper stranded in 1980s Midwestern suburbs, 15-year-old Hank loses his first battle-of-the-rhymes. The onlookers who give the kid a thumbs-down during the match -- mounted in a mall parking lot -- can't be judging him on likeability and vim. Certainly as played by Manu Kumasi in Forum Theatre's "How We Got On," Hank radiates so much gusto and goofy, mercurial charm that you almost expect all of middle America to convert to hip-hop fandom.