Details
Stockwell weaves together the diverse voices from the inquest's many witnesses, charting the desperate acceleration towards one of the most controversial moments in the history of the Metropolitan Police. In addition to exploring the sequence of events that led to the fatal shooting, the play also paints a vivid portrait of a city still in shock from the "7/7" attacks and a jittery and overstretched police force following the failed 21st July tube bombings at Shepherd's Bush, Warren Street and Oval the previous day. Surveillance and firearms officers, senior police coordinators, civilian witnesses to the shooting and relatives of de Menezes all contribute their accounts in a dramatic reworking of the inquest that delivered its verdict last December. Jean Charles de Menezes, a 27 year-old Brazilian national working in the UK as an electrician, was shot nine times at close range on a train at Stockwell tube station by the Metropolitan Police's Specialist Firearms Command Unit. The Independent Police Complaints Commission launched two investigations into the shooting, concluding that no officer would face disciplinary charges. From 22nd September to 12th December 2008, an inquest met to investigate the events of 22nd July. 100 witnesses and over £3 million later, it returned an open verdict.
Creatives/Company
Author:
Kieron Barry (from the inquest transcripts)
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