A couple left the Broadway musical Hamilton at the interval - because they "couldn't understand a word."

Charlie, 30, and his girlfriend Giulia, 26, had booked tickets to mark the smash hit show's 10th anniversary.

Both self-described theatre fans, they were excited to see the award-winning hip-hop musical.

But once the performance began, they found the speed of the rapping mixed with the volume of the instruments made it almost impossible to follow the lyrics.

Charlie later shared their decision to leave online and was quickly hit with a wave of backlash, with critics branding the pair "racist" and "embarrassing."

Charlie, a lawyer in New York City, said: "I was a bit surprised by the outrage, but mostly it was amusing."

"These people were so offended by us leaving their beloved play early that they went to great lengths to be rude and unforgiving."

Charlie and Giulia went into the show blind, with no idea what to expect.

But when they discovered it was almost entirely performed through rap songs, they struggled to keep up.

Charlie said: "It was nearly impossible to follow what was going on because I couldn't understand what was being said. "

"This was both of our first experiences of Hamilton. "

"We hadn't seen the play, watched the movie or heard the soundtrack."

"So we went in with zero context and were understandably annoyed when we couldn't make out any of the lyrics in the rap songs. "

"They were rapping so fast and the music was so loud that it was difficult to discern the actual words. "

"I think three or four times we looked at each other confused saying 'What is going on right now?' and 'How is anyone hearing what they're saying?'."

At the interval, the couple walked out - even after shelling out $250 per ticket.

Charlie said: "We made the executive decision to leave at the halfway point during the break. "

"It was an good decision in hindsight and I lost zero sleep over not having seen the rest of the musical. "

"It was already a sunk cost by the time intermission came and I didn't see a ton of value in sticking around for a play we didn't understand or enjoy."

Charlie later posted a TikTok video filmed during the first act, explaining why they decided to leave at the interval.

The clip quickly sparked outrage with commenters accusing the pair of being "racist"."

Hamilton is known for its groundbreaking, racially diverse casting of America's founding fathers and for bringing hip-hop to the Broadway stage.

Charlie said: "All the racism comments are patently absurd and veritably insane. "

"I want to be very clear, this video contained zero micro-aggressions or zero racial undertones and was in no way racially motivated. "

"To jump to that conclusion based on what was posted is maniacal and doesn't warrant any additional attention. "

"The bottom line is we couldn't hear what was being said. "

"The music was overpowering the lyrics. It's as simple as that. "

"Anyone interpreting it as a "micro-aggression" or as any form of racism is benighted and confused."

Charlie and Giulia now plan to watch the full musical on Disney+ with subtitles.

He said: "We definitely plan on watching it on Disney+ with subtitles. "

"I think that'll be a better way to consume it all and I am very excited for that. "

"I want to be clear that this should not reflect on the performers because you could tell that every one of them was wildly talented and extremely gifted. "

"For us, it had more to do with how the sound was mixed, and how quiet the vocals were in reference to the ensemble and all of the other musical instruments."