Inserting a rap number into a 1930s Brechtian play-with-music takes a certain sort of chutzpah. Managing to elevate the work in the process: now, that’s just impressive.

Catalyst Theater Company has definitely improved on the text of its latest production, Roundheads & Peakheads, a didactic little parable about class warfare and political maneuvering. The work’s connection to the current economic climate is undeniable, but Catalyst doesn’t dwell too much on beating us over the head with them (in fact, the company’s so reluctant to seem cliché that a voiceover is quick to point out that the use of Sept. 11 as a pivotal date in the work was Brecht’s move, not theirs).