The play is written in the style of verbatim theatre using interviews from politicians, police, rioters and victims involved in the riots.
This is told through witness accounts from rioters, police officers, onlookers and local residents, in particular Mohamed Hammoudan, whose house was burnt down.
Slovo has compiled a plurality of voices, in an unbiased manner, which describes, discusses and questions the causes of the 2011 England Riots.
The original cast consisted of fourteen actors playing 30 characters: Michele Austin, Sarah Ball, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Grant Burgin, Christopher Fox, Rupert Holliday Evans, Clementine Marlowe-Hunt, Okezie Morro, Cyril Nri, Tom Padley, Alan Parnaby, Selva Rasalingam, Steve Toussaint and Tim Woodward.
[5] After a sell out show and 4 star reviews from major newspapers including The Guardian[6] and The Daily Telegraph[7] the production of The Riots closed at the Tricycle Theatre on 10 December 2011.