A Croydon rapper’s name will be in lights this summer when she stars in a hip-hop musical comedy.

Sharna Longeville, 21, also known as Sloozie, is starring in the show OAPz about a group of pensioners who live in a care home which is dealing with the looming prospect of being shut down.

The musical, which will form part of the Camden Theatre Festival, is a story of desperation and hope which throws young and old together for a common cause.

When the NHS threaten the sheltered home with closure its residents get together in a last ditch effort to save the home and decide to do something about it.

They enter a BBC talent competition in the hope of winning the lucrative £1m top prize and recruit local rapper, Kelis (Sharna Longeville) to help them perfect their act.

Miss Longeville said: "I got involved with OAPz when a colleague of mine told me about the show. He encouraged me to go for the audition and I got the part.

"It’s a lot different to what I do normally but I really like working with people older than me. Teaching the rest of the cast hip-hop has been difficult because of their age, it’s kind of like trying to teach children.

"I intend to use this to really focus on my music career and try and launch that but at the moment I am just having loads of fun doing this."

The play was inspired from the writer’s personal experiences volunteering as a schoolboy with the local meals on wheels service where he grew up in Hammersmith.

Gabriel Kemlo, 39, still devotes a large chunk of his time now to helping out the elderly in care homes and on day trips.

For more information about the play or to book tickets go call 0844 77 1000 or go to ticketweb.com.

• What do you think? Let us know by email here, phone the newsdesk on 020 8330 9555 or leave a comment below.