Nick Clegg gets the hip-hop treatment in new festival play

The Deputy Prime Minister is the main character in Nicked, which charts the creation of the coalition after the 2010 general election up to the referendum on the Alternative Vote. Artistic director Steven Atkinson said: "There's almost something Hamlet-esque about Nick Clegg. He's trapped in an impossible situation, and that makes for great drama."

Mr Atkinson said the 18 hip-hop and urban tracks included were a good way to tell the coalition's story, because the verbal sparring of rappers was similar to Prime Minister's Questions.

He also believes political leaders keen to play down their public schoolboy background would naturally turn to urban sounds, if they were musicians, to prove they are cool.

Other politicians who make an appearance include Gordon Brown, Vince Cable, William Hague, the Miliband brothers and David Davis.

Mr Clegg will be played by actor Jason Langley, 26. He said: "It's about getting under the skin of these characters that we all know so well because we see them every night on the news in our living-room. Throughout the play there's a really interesting struggle for Nick between doing what he believes in and doing what the system wants him to do, the dodgy deals and the backroom handshakes."

• Nicked will play at the HighTide Festival in Halesworth, Suffolk, until 8 May.