Seven balaclava-clad actors emerge on stage, rapping and filming each other. They tell the story of the drill scene through its own medium of song, social media posts and music videos. A joint winner of the Oxford Samuel Beckett Theatre Trust award 2022, The UK Drill Project explores the criminalisation of a subculture with originality of form.
“Writing a lyric has never been so dangerous,” says a character, and we hear reports of how young black rappers are convicted of inciting gang violence based on their songs, despite lack of forensic evidence.
