The National Theatre is to stage a verbatim play based on accounts by survivors and those bereaved by the Grenfell Tower fire almost six years ago as the centrepiece of a long-term collaborative project with the west London community.
The play, Grenfell: in the words of survivors, is the work of the novelist and playwright Gillian Slovo, who spent five years gaining the confidence of community members and recording their accounts of the disaster in north Kensington which killed 72 people.
The play will be told in three parts: the lead-up to the 14 June 2017 fire, the night of the catastrophe, and a filmed final section in which survivors and the bereaved speak of their continued campaign for justice.
At the same time the NT, based at London’s South Bank, will work with the north Kensington community on creative projects in the area, learning programmes in local schools, workshops and will offer paid placements with the NT for local people.
Soon after the fire, Slovo and Rufus Norris, the NT’s artistic director, discussed the idea of a play based on the voices of people directly involved. “Grenfell was something that the National Theatre needed to address on the national stage. It was our responsibility to make sure their voices were heard,” said Slovo.
It took time to persuade people to recount their experiences. “They were traumatised, and having to deal with their losses and experiences and housing needs. But gradually, by word of mouth, we began to find people willing to be interviewed. One person would hand me on to the next.”
Slovo gave all those involved a guarantee that they could read the transcripts of their interviews and veto anything they did not want included. She also invited them to a first reading of the play and to contribute feedback.
She interviewed about 80 people in total, but in the end focused on a “small core” of survivors and the bereaved. “It felt such a responsibility to render their experiences accurately. With verbatim, there is no dialogue – you have to fit together a series of monologues to tell a story.”
Hanan Wahabi, who lost her home on the ninth floor of the tower, and whose brother and his whole family died in the fire, is among those whose accounts feature in the play. “It’s important that what happened to us is not forgotten,” she said. “The National Theatre is a platform that can tell our story.”
It was “not easy” to relive her trauma, she said. “But lessons need to be learned, and change needs to happen. I want [the audience] to come away knowing that what happened was wrong, and it still is wrong, and I want them to ask, what can we do about it?
“People who go to the National Theatre come from all walks of life – and some of them have power. They can help. And if they can’t, they can go to somebody who can. I want that domino effect.”
The first two parts of the play will be performed by professional actors including Ash Hunter, Houda Echouafni and Jackie Clune. Its creative directors are Phyllida Lloyd and Anthony Simpson-Pike, working with Slovo.
Half the tickets for each performance will be available at £20 or less, with 50 priced at £10 or less. People from north Kensington will be invited to watch the production for free.
The public inquiry into the Grenfell fire closed in November after 400 days of evidence. It is not expected to produce its final report until at least October, with criminal charges expected to follow.
“There’s still anger and frustration, but also exhaustion,” said Wahabi. “We’re tired of waiting. We feel stuck, frozen in time.”
Slovo said she had “no doubt the play would be compelling because the story is compelling. These are amazing, generous people and I feel honoured to have got to know them.”
Grenfell: In the Words of Survivors will be at the National Theatre from 13 July until 26 August.
