Fusing word, comedy and a tailor-made score of beats and melodies from the UK Grime scene, 8SIXTEEN32 is a breath-taking, tongue-twisting tale of life and lyrics where four MCs clash with their biggest competitor yet…

Evoke: Writer/Performer
LCB: Writer/Performer
Professor D: Writer/Performer
RT: Writer/Performer
Polarbear: Lead Artist/Script Mentor
Leo Kay: Director/Design Concept
Mark de Clive-Lowe: Music Director
Charlie Dark: Artistic Director (Decypher Project)
Raidene Carter: Producer (for Birmingham Repertory Theatre)

Suitable for ages 14+ (some strong language)

Dense use of text

Requires clear understanding of English, mostly delivered in rhyme, rap and poetry with urban Birmingham dialect and/or patois slang.

Uses recorded music mixed with live vocals

Not currently available with BSL interpretation, audio description or captioning

Number of performers on stage: 4

Number of people on tour: 8

Suitable for small (up to 400) scale venue

Appropriate setting: Studio theatre, small flexible theatre

The Decypher Collective are able to deliver Grime Theatre workshops that incorporate lyrical writing, free-style MC-ing, vocal delivery/performance and music/beat-making.
Suitable for young adults aged 14+.

In 2006 40 Birmingham MCs came together for various workshops lead by DJ, poet and writer, Charlie Dark to question whether grime and theatre could come together. In 2007 a core group of these MCs embarked on a further journey with facilitating artists Polarbear and Leo Kay to establish themselves as the Decypher Collective and pioneers of what was coined ‘Grime Theatre’ to present early stages of the work. Undergoing a further phase of writer/performer development in 2008, the Collective grew in complete creative synergy with its show 8SIXTEEN32 to encompass music, performance, poetry, Grime culture, creative ambition and advocacy.

8SIXTEEN32 is the Decypher Collective’s first professional theatre production although they have performed extensively as MCs and poets. Their national and international gigs include: RT and Professor D in Don Letts’ Speakers Corner (national UK tour 2007), supported by Evoke and LCB at Bernie Grant Arts Centre, Contact Theatre and Town Hall Birmingham; Evoke in the Black Country Touring spoken word production Things that Can’t be Said (2008); Collectively at Amsterdam’s Black Soil Festival (2007) Birmingham’s Bass Music and Rootsville festivals (2007).

“Meticulously timed delivery of vocal pyrotechnics” (Birmingham Post, 2007).

“…a seamlessly flowing 60-minute performance”
“…definitely self-aware…the group’s willingness to send itself up is one of its attractive qualities.”
“The performance runs the gamut from ear-blisteringly loud to remarkably subtle, with some excitingly complex vocal rhythms which require a precise musicality…”
Birmingham Post, 2008.

“Just the thought of trying to merge grime and traditional theatre is enough to give you a headache. Surely these two disciplines are completely incompatible: two art forms that exist in completely different worlds? One is seen and the voice of the streets, the other the voice of the middle class. Of course, that’s the clichéd view, and often the very reason why young black people don’t get involved with theatre. Birmingham’s Decypher Collective sees things differently, and has set itself the challenge of bringing grime to Birmingham Repertory Theatre.” The Metro, 2008.