Second verbatim play based on the Grenfell Inquiry announced

A further play will stage scenes from the Grenfell Inquiry, it has been revealed.

Following Grenfell: Value Engineering, which ran in 2021, new piece Grenfell: System Failure has announced plans to run early next year in three venues across west London.

The production has described the show’s intention to “interrogate why the testing regime failed to warn of the danger of installing inflammable materials, why manufacturers promoted such products with no regard to safety, why government regulations ignored the dangers and were not updated, and why politicians failed to ensure proper oversight.”

The piece will play at the Playground Theatre (18 February to 25 February), The Tabernacle (27 February to 12 March) and Marylebone Theatre (14 March to 26 March). It is adapted by Richard Norton-Taylor and Nicolas Kent, with Kent also on directing duties.

Richard Millett, the Inquiry’s main QC has said: “eEach and every one of the risks which eventuated at Grenfell Tower on that night were well known by many and ought to have been known by all who had any part to play.

“As a result, you will be able to conclude with confidence that each and every one of the deaths that occurred in Grenfell Tower on the 14 June 2017 were avoidable. The reasons were many, complex and, in many cases, inextricably interlinked.”

Kent added: “During the run of the previous play (Grenfell: Value Engineering) in October 2021, there was much pressure from the Grenfell community and audiences for us to complete the story of the final phase of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.

“This second play, Grenfell: System Failure, focuses on the vital questions of how the cladding/insulation manufacturers, the London Fire Brigade, government regulators and politicians could have averted this terrible fire, and how they failed the local community in the chaos of its aftermath.

“The plays complete an overview of the inquiry’s important work. The full inquiry report will be published late 2023 and its recommendations, if implemented, will hopefully prevent such a tragedy ever happening again.”

Grenfell: System Failure has set design by Miki Jablkowska and Matt Eagland, lighting design by Matt Eagland, sound and video design by Andy Graham, costume design by Carly Brownbridge, casting by Amy Ball with community liaison Suresh Grover, and production photography by Beresford Hodge.

The production will also run a series of workshops and Q&A discussions alongside the run, while also providing £5 ticket options for those based in the local area.