Synopsis 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. Opening exactly four years after the terrible events of 22nd July 2005 that culminated in the tragic death of the innocent Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes, at a theatre a few hundred yards from the scene of the shooting.
When innocent Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead at Stockwell tube station on 22 July 2005, the initial public reaction was arguably sympathetic to the police - albeit largely due to media distortion of the events.
Stockwell, which has been cut together by Kieron Barry from the transcripts of the 2008 inquest, shows precisely why the tide of opinion has since turned, and de Menezes' name has become synonymous with an ongoing campaign for justice.
An ensemble of eight recreate 30 of the key players, including Cressida Dick, the officer in charge of the fateful operation, and the firearms officers responsible for the shooting. As so often with verbatim drama, it's the revelation of bare fact that causes the greatest impact; it's shocking to learn that the surveillance team on the day didn't even know they were observing a block of flats as opposed to a house, thus mistakenly assuming de Menezes was walking out of the same address as their suspect.
For all Barry's adept cutting of the transcripts, a downside to Sophie Lifshutz's production is its tendency to caricature. Cressida Dick (Helen Worsley) is painted as nothing less than an ice queen, whereas the inclusion of testimony from de Menezes' family seems peripheral and designed to heighten emotions that run perfectly high on their own. For a play that casts its audience as the jury, it at least owes the villains of the piece a fair trial.
It also fails to mention any of the aftermath of the inquest, and only programme notes record that several of the offending officers (including Dick) have subsequently been promoted. However, what it does do brilliantly is grant an on-the-ground view of the events as they unfolded, and help us to understand that the men who actually pulled the trigger (albeit rather over-zealously) were doing so out of blind panic.
Living as I do just a few minutes away from de Menezes' flat in Tulse Hill, I know the journey he took that day very well. It's a shuddering thought that it could have been any one of us, and indeed still could be in an age blighted by constant civilian surveillance.
Stockwell is an important play, one of three on the Fringe this year to deal with the case (a new project opening at Theatre503 in the autumn promises an examination of the aftermath). As we move further away from that dreadful July in 2005, it's important to be reminded that, similar to any victim of terrorism, de Menezes died as a result of tragic misfortune and the frailty of human instinct.
Stunning! Kieron Barry has put together a chilling dramatic play from the actual transcripts of the inquest into the death of Jean Charles De Menezes'. It is a powerful and moving piece of drama, deftly directed by Sophie Lifshutz, and all the more chilling, of course, from being based on fact. All the actors play their parts extremely well, but particular mention should go to the magisterial Kevin Quarmby as the coroner and Jack Klaff, Michael Mansfield, played with a well judged balance of steely toughness and mild eccentricity as the counsel for the De Menezes family. Helen Horsley. principally playing Commander Cressida Dick, neatly revealed with grim obstinacy the cracks in her statements and those of her officials taken after the tragic events of the 22nd of July 2005. And finally Alex Tanner, specialist firearms officer, whose breakdown in the final moments of the play is truly moving. It rightly deserves a transfer to a bigger West End venue and I'm sure a run Off-Broadway would not be out of the question too. - rds
09 Aug 09
I saw this play last night and thought it was a brilliant piece of theatre. A very strong cast and a powerful and thought provoking play. It really is a must see to discover the truth about Jean Charles De Menezes tragic death. - Anon
Whatsonstage.com - Discount London theatre tickets, theatre news and reviews, Theatre videos, Theatre discussion, National Theatre Listings. Covering London's West End, all of Theatreland and all UK theatre. The best
for London Theatre Ticket Discounts.
