8Sixteen32: Where Grime Meets Theatre

 

25 Aug 2010

 

 

 

8Sixteen32, a new theatre piece commissioned by Birmingham Rep touring the UK this autumn. 40 grime MCs were auditioned specially to develop 8Sixteen32 from an initial idea by Charlie Dark (augmented by the writing of poet / storyteller / MC Polarbear) and Birmingham MCs Evoke, LCB, Professor D and RTKal thus formed The Decypher Collective.

8Sixteen32 refers to typical bar lines used in grime: these rhythms permeate the show, which dramatises a 'life of grime' in a series of set pieces [street, yard, club...] capturing the excitement, aspirations, creativity and disillusionment of the scene as its participants each seek to prove their skills and make their name. The show also examines the way that grime is co-opted by corporate interests which never quite 'get' it. In the show, the 'N81632' is a new state-of-the-art phone the crew all crave – advertised appropriately using a grime soundtrack.  

The performers combine impressive musicality with a stage presence, comic timing and a general sense of theatre that wouldn't disgrace more seasoned performers, so that the show is a lot more than just an extended sequence of rhymes, but nonetheless maintains the grittiness and essentially improvised feel of the scene. Music is provided throughout by critically acclaimed broken-beats jazzman Mark De Clive-Lowe.

Tour dates

 


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