Rising Stars of Street Music Take to the Stage
An innovative new Birmingham Repertory Theatre show is putting street music performers centre stage to pioneer Grime Theatre.
8 Sixteen 32 is inspired by hip-hop, poetry and Grime - a UK music phenomenon that has developed from drum n’ bass, dancehall and hip-hop, exemplified by Dizzee Rascal, winner of the 2003 Mercury Music Prize and Wiley, who’s hit Wearing My Rolex charted number 2 this Summer. 8 Sixteen 32 is the first piece of professional theatre to platform Grime music, culture and artists. The production will open at The REP on November 5th - 8th.
8 Sixteen 32 began life as a Birmingham Repertory Theatre project in 2006 with the aim of finding out if Grime music could be brought to the stage. An overwhelming, 40 MCs turned up to take part and out of this group four have undergone a unique creative process to form the Decypher Collective.
The Decypher Collective are four young rappers and poets from Birmingham – Deci4life, aged 22 from Northfield, Evoke aged 22 from Walsall, RT aged 18 from Quinton and LCB aged 19 from Walsall. A combination of music students and part-time performers, the Collective worked with established poets Charlie Dark from London and Steven Polarbear Camden from Birmingham to hone their words into a script.
Based on real-life experiences the story follows four Grime MCs as they battle to make it big in the music industry. Using comedy, stylised movement and a tailor-made score of beats, rhythms and melodies 8 Sixteen 32 also highlights the exploitation of youth culture by the advertising industry. The production lends its name from the number of beats in a bar that Grime MCs count whilst rapping.
Raidene Carter, Associate Producer at The REP says of 8 Sixteen 32: “The production has been two years in the making and it developed very differently from a traditional piece of theatre. But just as playwrights and poets find their inspiration from the worlds they inhabit, so do MCs who write rhymes about everyday life and experiences universal to us all.
“The Decypher Collective has created a really powerful piece of urban theatre that is uniquely fresh for the Grime scene – it’s light, funny and insightful but edged with some real drama and social commentary about a world many people have never heard of. This approach to theatre is in its infancy, but it’s exciting to think where it could lead.”
8 Sixteen 32 is directed by Leo Kay with musical direction from Mark De Clive-Rowe.
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