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The Rioters

The story of the riots of 2011, using accounts from the rioters themselves as well as previously unseen footage to tell the shocking tale of what happened and why.

The story of last summer's riots, told with dramatic accounts from the rioters themselves. With powerful words and previously unseen footage, this is a compelling and shocking tale of what happened and why. The first film in this two-part series features the real words of rioters performed by actors.

1 hour

Last on

Mon 3 Sep 2012 03:30

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See all episodes from The Riots: In Their Own Words

Alecky Blythe - Recorded Delivery

Writer and Co-Director Alecky Blythe is famous for creating plays based on real interviews – mixing journalism with drama to create verbatim theatre. She uses a performance style called β€˜recorded delivery’, requiring actors to wear earphones throughout performance. They don’t learn any lines, instead they listen to the recording and talk a few seconds behind, mimicking the tone and pace of delivery so that they capture the essence of the person and the intention of the words as they were first spoken.

The result is a very naturalistic and believable performance. Good actors, who listen attentively to the audio, seemingly recreate the subject before your eyes. It instantly makes the performances specific and detailed and the actors don’t have the time or headspace to be self-conscious.

Programme Information

This series was originally scheduled to be shown in July 2012, but was postponed after a judge overseeing a riot related trial in Birmingham issued a court order preventing it from being broadcast. The trial ended and the film was broadcast in August 2012.

Credits

Role Contributor
Executive Producer Darren Kemp
Executive Producer Darren Kemp
Producer Fatima Salaria
Producer Fatima Salaria
Director Fatima Salaria
Director Fatima Salaria

Broadcasts

TV blog: Assistant producer Nicola Cutcher on the making of The Riots

"Why had they acted like they did? Were they sorry or would they do it again?"